Big South Football Championship Game Preview
Saturday’s season-finale between 4-0 North Carolina A&T and 4-0 Gardner-Webb will decide the Big South’s automatic qualifier to the FCS Playoffs. It will be the league’s second-straight and fourth-ever “Winner Take All” Championship game regular-season finale, as the others were 2011 (Stony Brook-Liberty), 2017 (Kennesaw State-Monmouth) and 2021 (Kennesaw State-Monmouth). The winner of Saturday’s contest will emerge with the 13th outright Big South championship title, as well as be the 13th champion with a perfect conference record. Below is a closer look at both teams, as well as links to watch on ESPN+ and follow via live stats.
THE SERIES: This is the fourth meeting between the schools. The Aggies lead the series, 2-1.
AGGIE ANECDOTES: North Carolina A&T is seeking its first conference championship since 2019 (MEAC) and sixth in the last eight seasons, as well as the 17th overall in program history (5 - CIAA, 11 - MEAC) ... The Aggies are also vying for their first FCS Playoff berth since 2016 ... A&T defeated Gardner-Webb in 2017 (45-3) and 2018 (45-6) ... The Aggies’ seven-game win streak is their longest since 15-straight across the 2017 and 2018 seasons ... RB BHAYSHUL TUTEN is averaging 137.2 rushing yards during his current 9-game 100-yard rushing streak, which is tied for the longest in a season in Big South history ... Tuten has scored a TD in seven-straight games (16 in that span), with six being multi-TD efforts.
BULLDOG BITES: Gardner-Webb is seeking its first Big South championship since 2003, when the Runnin’ Bulldogs repeated as Big South champions after winning the inaugural league season of 2002 ... The Runnin’ Bulldogs are vying for their first-ever FCS Playoff berth ... GWU defeated North Carolina A&T in last year’s season finale, 35-27 ... Gardner-Webb’s five-game Big South win streak dating back to last year is its longest since winning seven-straight across the 2002 and 2003 seasons ... QB BAILEY FISHER carries a league-record-tying streak of three consecutive games with 350+ yards of offense into Saturday (417.7 average in that span).
WATCH ON ESPN+ | LIVE STATS