East Carolina announces its 2016 football schedule

Under first-year coach Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina’s 2016 football season will include some national exposure.

The Pirates’ schedule, which was released Tuesday, includes matchups with the ACC, SEC and a Thursday night national TV game against Navy.

Eight of ECU’s 12 games will be against 2015 bowl teams.

“Embracing the opportunity to keep moving our program forward and play at the highest level possible should be something that is encouraged,” said Montgomery, the former Duke associate head coach and offensive coordinator, in a statement. “For us to be in a position to remain focused on meeting and exceeding our goals, it is important to compete on a national stage against the SEC, ACC, and now the American, every week.”

The Pirates September non-conference schedule, announced last month, includes those SEC and ACC games. ECU plays N.C. State at home on Sept. 10, and has road games against South Carolina Sept. 17 and Virginia Tech Sept. 24.

ESPN will broadcast ECU’s home game against Navy on Oct. 13, a Thursday.

ECU opens its season at home Sept. 3 against Western Carolina. Its first AAC game is Oct. 1 against Central Florida.

The AAC championship game is Dec. 3.

CLARIFICATION: Prior versions of this article said ECU would play 13 games. That number includes the conference championship game.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 11:58 AM with the headline "East Carolina announces its 2016 football schedule."