PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania football team will embark on its 142nd season of competition in 2018, and the 18-time Ivy League champion Penn Quakers will navigate a new-look schedule as the Ivy League slate will see a change that brings a rivalry feel to the final weekend of Ancient Eight play.
 
Starting next season, Penn's final contest of its 10-game slate will be against archrival Princeton beginning with a game scheduled for November 17 in New Jersey. Penn has capped its season with Princeton just twice in its previous 141 years of collegiate football -- last doing so way back in 1885.The Quakers will see their annual Trustees' Cup battle with Cornell move to Week Eight – next year's Trustees' Cup game will be in Ithaca on November 3.
 
"The final weekend of Ivy League play will have a rivalry feel to it across the League," said George A. Munger Head Coach of Football Ray Priore. "I know our players and fans will enjoy the anticipation and excitement of playing Princeton the final week of the season. At the same time, I am glad that our storied series with Cornell – the fifth-most played series in all of college football – will have an important place on our home schedule every other year as part of Homecoming Weekend on campus."
 
Penn's five other Ivy League games stay in their same spot on the schedule with one adjustment to location. After a road trip to Dartmouth to open Ivy play in Week Three, the Quakers will venture back into non-conference play in Week Four with the program's first-ever visit to Sacred Heart University before returning to Franklin Field for their next two Ivy games. The Red and Blue host Columbia in Week Five before Yale makes its second consecutive trip to Philadelphia in Week Six.
 
The Red and Blue will hit the road for back-to-back Ivy games at Brown (Week Seven) and Cornell (Week Eight) before hosting Harvard on November 10 for Homecoming at Franklin Field. Penn last hosted Harvard for Homecoming in 2000 – a 36-35 win for the Quakers on 11/11/00.
 
Penn will open 2018 with back-to-back home games at historic Franklin Field. On September 15, Penn renews its series with Bucknell. The Quakers hold a 29-5 all-time edge in the series, but the two teams have not met since 2010. The following week, Penn welcomes a second Patriot League foe to Philly as the Quakers host Lehigh on September 22. The last time Penn played back-to-back games at Franklin Field to open a season was 2011, but the Week Two game against Villanova was technically 'Nova's home game. Priore to that, the last time Penn played a pair of true home games to open a season was in 1999 against Dartmouth and Villanova.
 
"We are excited about our non-League schedule this coming season," said Priore. "We'll play a Lehigh team which won the Patriot League and competed in the FCS Playoffs while renewing our series with a second Patriot program in Bucknell and adding a Sacred Heart team which has two playoffs appearances in the past five years. Our group is excited for the challenge of preparing for the upcoming season and that work is already underway as our players are in the midst of offseason workouts and our coaches are traveling all over the country to finish up our next recruiting class. The four consecutive wins to finish the season has everyone energized and confident we can carry that momentum over to 2018."
 
All game dates are subject to change and all game times will be announced at a later date.
 
Penn's 2018 Schedule
Sept. 15 vs. Bucknell
Sept. 22 vs. Lehigh
Sept. 29 at Dartmouth
Oct. 6 at Sacred Heart
Oct. 13 vs. Columbia
Oct. 20 vs. Yale
Oct. 27 at Brown
Nov. 3 at Cornell
Nov. 10 vs. Harvard (Homecoming)
Nov. 17 at Princeton