“As we continue to elevate the competitiveness and excitement of our football program, we believe it’s important to play an attractive and competitive schedule in our out-of-conference line-up,” Blank (pictured right) said. “Our student-athletes and our fans will enjoy the future challenges of Elon University taking on South Florida, Wake Forest, Duke and Georgia Tech. These games present tremendous opportunities for both our student-athletes and our university.”

The four I-A opponents will each give the Phoenix a road game to open four of the next seven seasons. Elon will travel to South Florida on Sept. 1, 2007. In 2009, the Phoenix will visit Wake Forest on Aug. 29. The Phoenix will again hit the road for contests at Duke on Aug. 28, 2010 and at Georgia Tech on Aug. 31, 2013.

“We are pleased to add a new level of competition to our schedule in the coming years,” Elon head football coach Pete Lembo said. “These I-A games are in prime recruiting areas and will allow us to compete on the field with some nationally prominent academic institutions.”

The Phoenix will face South Florida to open next season, marking Elon’s first contest ever against an NCAA Division I-A opponent. Currently in its 85th season overall and fourth in the Southern Conference, Elon completed its transition to the NCAA Division I-AA ranks in time for the 1999 campaign.

“South Florida is a football program that has risen dramatically through the Division I ranks to a level of national respect and prominence,” Lembo said. “It is an honor to be featured on the same schedule as programs like West Virginia, Louisville and Pittsburgh, among others.”