Western Kentucky announced its 2025 football schedule on Thursday.

The 12-game regular-season slate features six home games at Houchens-Smith Stadium, two matchups against new Conference USA opponents and a late-season trip to face off with an SEC program.

The Hilltoppers will open the 2025 season with a Week 0 conference matchup at home with Sam Houston on Aug. 23 before facing three nonconference foes over the next three games.

WKU is slated to play North Alabama at home on Aug. 30, followed by a Sept. 6 game at Toledo. After a bye week, the Hilltoppers will host Nevada on Sept. 20.

Road trips to face CUSA newcomers Missouri State and Delaware will follow on Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, respectively. After the Friday night matchup with the Blue Hens, WKU will continue with a pair of Tuesday night games against FIU at home on Oct. 14 and at Louisiana Tech on Oct. 21.

WKU will kick off its November slate with back-to-back home games against New Mexico State on Nov. 1 and against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 15.

The Hilltoppers will face LSU in a nonconference game in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Nov. 22, and will close the regular season with a rematch of the 2024 CUSA Championship Game at Jax State on Nov. 29.

Kickoff times and broadcast information will be released at a later date.

The CUSA Championship Game is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 5. The top two teams in the league standings will face off at the home site of the top team in the regular-season CUSA standings. The CUSA Championship Game will be televised on CBSSN.

The 2025 CUSA alignment will feature the 10 teams from last season – WKU, FIU, Jax State, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State, Sam Houston and UTEP – as well as Delaware and Missouri State, the league’s two newcomers in 2025.

This marks the third season of “Weekday CUSA,” which will see all October league matchups played on midweek evenings. CUSA’s broadcast partners will share the October weeknight football games on linear television across CBSSN, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. Of last season’s 18 CUSA October midweek contests, eight games were decided by single digits, while six were one-score games, including two in overtime.

All games are subject to date changes and some dates may move in the coming weeks in order to accommodate national television selections. A schedule of televised games will be released at a later date.

Against Sam Houston, the Hilltoppers are 2-1 all-time, including wins in back-to-back seasons as conference opponents. The Bearkats won the first meeting between the two programs in the 2004 NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs.

WKU has never faced off with North Alabama, and the Hilltoppers will make the first trip in program history to Toledo in 2025. The two programs met for the first time ever in 2024 at Houchens-Smith Stadium, and the Hilltoppers claimed a 26-21 victory. WKU’s Sept. 20 game against Nevada will mark the first time the two programs have been pitted against each other.

The Hilltoppers hold an 8-2 record all-time against Missouri State, but the two programs have not met since the 2006 season. WKU won the last meeting – a Gateway Conference matchup – 17-14 in Springfield, Missouri.

Against Delaware, WKU is 0-2 all-time, with the two meetings coming in 1981 and 1982.

FIU will be back on WKU’s schedule after a one-year absence. The Hilltoppers are 11-6 against the Panthers with wins in the last five matchups. The two programs faced off in nine consecutive seasons before the 2024 campaign.

The Oct. 21 meeting with Louisiana Tech will mark the third consecutive season the two programs have played against each other. The Bulldogs lead the series 6-5 after a victory last November in Bowling Green.

WKU and New Mexico State will meet for the third time – all since 2023 – when the two face off on Feix Field on Nov. 1. The Hilltoppers evened the series at a game apiece with a 41-28 victory last season in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The “100 Miles of Hate” rivalry is renewed on Nov. 15. It’ll be the 75th meeting all-time between WKU and Middle Tennessee. The Hilltoppers have taken a 38-35-1 lead against the Blue Raiders in the series after winning six straight games and nine of the last 10, including a 49-21 decision last season in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

WKU will face an SEC program for the second consecutive season with the Nov. 22 game at LSU – the Hilltoppers played Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2024. WKU and LSU have played two times previously, with the Tigers claiming victories in both meetings.

The regular-season finale at Jax State will be the ninth meeting between the two programs and the fourth meeting in three seasons. The Hilltoppers defeated the Gamecocks 19-17 in the 2024 regular-season finale to earn a berth in the CUSA Championship Game, where they fell to Jax State in Jacksonville, Alabama. WKU leads the series 5-3.

WKU finished the 2024 season with an 8-6 overall record and earned berths in both the CUSA Championship Game and the Boca Raton Bowl.

WKU FOOTBALL 2025 SCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT

Saturday, Aug. 23 Sam Houston*

Saturday, Aug. 30 North Alabama

Saturday, Sept. 6 at Toledo

Saturday, Sept. 20 Nevada

Saturday, Sept. 27 at Missouri State*

Friday, Oct. 3 at Delaware*

Tuesday, Oct. 14 FIU*

Tuesday, Oct. 21 at Louisiana Tech*

Saturday, Nov. 1 New Mexico State*

Saturday, Nov. 15 Middle Tennessee*

Saturday, Nov. 22 at LSU

Saturday, Nov. 29 at Jax State*