Booneville, Miss. - Fans of the Northeast Mississippi Community College football program will get to see their team a bit more in person this season without having to travel.
The Tigers will play five contests at home for the first time in three years as part of their complete nine-game schedule during the approaching 2017 campaign.
"We're excited about our future," said Northeast head coach Greg Davis. "We're looking forward to this schedule. We think we can go out there and have another successful season."
The Tigers look to build upon the positive momentum gained from their outstanding 2016 season, which included a spot amongst the top 10 teams in the country in the final National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) rankings.
"The biggest thing that we have to do is go out there and compete," Davis said. "We're doing things continuously the right way. I do think that we're going to be better overall talent wise offensively and defensively."
Northeast's lengthiest trip of the entire campaign happens to be during the very first week with an over 300-mile, four-hour journey to Pearl River Community College on Thursday, August 31.
It is the longest road trip in a season opener for the Tigers since they began the 2014 campaign with a visit to Perkinston and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Northeast then starts a crucial three-game stretch at Tiger Stadium by welcoming the reigning Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) division champions in back-to-back weeks.
MACJC South Division winner East Central Community College christens the home slate for the Tigers on September 7 before MACJC North Division titleholder East Mississippi Community College comes to town the following Thursday.
Southwest Mississippi Community College concludes what is tied for the longest home stand in program history on Thursday, September 21. Northeast has hosted three straight matchups in five previous years, including most recently in 2003.
The Tigers also did so during their inaugural season on the gridiron in 1949 against Bethel (Tenn.) University, Jones County Junior College and what is now the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Northeast finishes the regular season with five consecutive MACJC North Division contests, including two in a row at Coahoma Community College and rival Itawamba Community College as the calendar flips to October.
Homecoming activities take over Booneville and culminate on Thursday, October 12 with a pivotal conference matchup versus Mississippi Delta Community College. It is the third straight year in which these festivities will be held midweek.
The Tigers' lone weekend game is on Saturday, October 21 at Holmes Community College. Northeast honors its sophomores on Thursday, October 26 when Northwest Mississippi Community College treks to the City of Hospitality.
The 2017 MACJC State Playoffs get underway with the semifinal round on November 4 with contests on the campuses of the two schools that capture division crowns. The title matchup takes place the following Saturday.
The state champion earns the right to participate in the tenth annual Mississippi Bowl. It is one of eight bowl games across the nation officially sanctioned by the NJCAA and the only such contest in the Southeast.