Harvard schedules future FCS tests against Montana State, UC Davis, Wofford, Richmond

Harvard is betting on a louder national profile, and the schedule shows it. The Crimson added six future nonconference games against four first-time opponents, headlined by reigning FCS champion Montana State, quarterfinalist UC Davis, a resurgent Wofford program and postseason regular Richmond.

The move fits where Harvard already is. The Crimson won their third straight Ivy League title in 2025, finished 9-2 overall, earned an at-large berth into the NCAA FCS playoffs and closed the year in both final top-25 polls. Harvard climbed as high as No. 7 in the Stats Perform rankings, a reminder that the Ivy’s top team is no longer content to be measured only inside the conference.

The most immediate test comes against UC Davis. Harvard and the Aggies will begin a home-and-home series on Sept. 18, 2027 at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass., before the return game on Sept. 20, 2031 at UC Davis Health Stadium in Davis, Calif. UC Davis finished 2025 at 9-4, ranked No. 8 in the final Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and reached the quarterfinals, making the matchup one of the cleanest indicators of where Harvard wants to sit in the national conversation.

The other additions carry similar weight. Harvard will travel to Montana State in 2028 to face the Bobcats at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Mont., a year after Montana State won the 2025-26 FCS national championship with a 35-34 overtime victory over Illinois State and finished 14-2 with a 14-game winning streak. The Crimson will host Wofford in Cambridge in 2028, giving Andrew Aurich’s program a chance to test itself against a Southern Conference team that has improved under Shawn Watson, raising its win total each of his first three full seasons and finishing 2025 at 6-6.

Richmond adds the kind of name recognition that travels. Harvard will host the Spiders in 2031 and visit Richmond, Va., in 2032 as part of a home-and-home. Richmond has reached the FCS playoffs in three of the last four years, won games in two of those trips, and owns a national title from 2008 along with semifinal runs in 2007, 2015 and 2016.

Aurich said the series is intended to expand the Harvard Football brand into new parts of the country while maximizing the student-athlete experience. In practical terms, it also does something else: it gives the Crimson a schedule that asks the playoff committee to look at Harvard as more than an Ivy League champion.