The University of Maine football team will travel to North Carolina next year to face an opponent one level above them. And the Black Bear program will get a few hundred thousand dollars for its troubles.
The UMaine athletic department announced this week that its football team will take on Appalachian State during the 2026 football season. The Mountaineers play in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of Division I college football, and the Black Bears play in the Football Championship Subdivision, the next level below that.
The game will take place on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026 and will net UMaine a guarantee of $350,000 according to the Black Bears athletic department.
Playing up a level like this can be financially beneficial for FCS teams, as they typically receive a guaranteed payout to travel to an FBS school. The FBS school in turn gets to host what is, at least in theory, an easier non-conference matchup against a team from a lower division.
But no win is guaranteed, as Appalachian State proved in 2007 before making the jump from FCS to FBS. The Mountaineers shocked college football by upsetting No. 5 Michigan to start that season.
Next year’s matchup will be the first between UMaine and Appalachian State since before the Mountaineers joined the FBS in 2014. UMaine last played and beat Appalachian State in the 2011 FCS playoffs.
The Black Bears received a $635,000 guarantee last season to travel to Oklahoma for what ended up being a 59-14 beatdown by the formidable Sooners. And they will receive $400,000 to open this season at Liberty University in Virginia on Aug. 30.
UMaine will also take on a second FBS school this year, traveling south again to play Georgia Southern on Sept. 20. The Black Bears will receive a $325,000 guarantee for that contest.
