WEST POINT, N.Y. - Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson announced Army's 2010 football schedule on Thursday,  a 12-game slate that features five home games, and a historic pairing with Notre Dame in the first college football tilt at the new Yankee Stadium.

In addition to renewing their storied rivalry with Notre Dame, the Black Knights will square off against two teams hailing from Bowl Championship Series conferences in Rutgers and Duke. The schedule includes three schools from the Mid-American Conference (Eastern Michigan, Temple and Kent State), two Independents (Notre Dame, Navy), one from the Atlantic Coast Conference (Duke), one from the Big East Conference (Rutgers), one from Conference USA (Tulane), one from the Western Athletic Conference (Hawai'i), one from the Mountain West Conference (Air Force), one from the Sun Belt Conference (North Texas), and one opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision ranks (VMI). In all, Army will play seven of its 12 games within a 90-minute drive of West Point and an eighth contest less than three hours away.

"We are pleased to announce our 2010 football schedule at this early date," expressed Anderson. "The scheduling process for a Football Bowl Subdivision Independent remains very complex and challenging. We strive to put together a slate of games each year that helps us to achieve goals from both a competitive and geographic standpoint. Ultimately, it is most important that we provide our cadet-athletes with an unparalleled experience and scheduling plays a large role in accomplishing that.

"We feel our players, graduates and fans will find our 2010 football schedule to be extremely appealing on several different fronts."

For the second straight year, Army will open its campaign with a road date at Eastern Michigan on Labor Day weekend, squaring off against the Eagles on Sept. 4. The teams have met three times previously, with all three meetings resulting in Army wins. The Black Knights opened the 2009 campaign with a 27-13 victory over Eastern Michigan in Rich Ellerson's West Point coaching debut.

The Black Knights begin the home portion of their 2010 campaign the following weekend, kicking off a mini two-game homestand with a date against Hawai'i (Sept. 11). The Warriors' first visit to West Point will ignite an eight-game stretch in the heart of the fall that will include five contests at Miche Stadium. The Black Knights will host North Texas the following week (Sept. 18).

Army and Hawai'i have clashed just once previously, with the Black Knights heading to Honolulu in 2003. Next year's matchup with the Warriors will mark the start of a four game home-and-home series between the clubs that runs intermittently through 2019. Army and North Texas, meanwhile, have battled twice previously with the Black Knights winning both matchups. The teams last met in 1997 at West Point, with the Black Knights posting a 25-14 victory. They will collide for a third time later next month when Army visits the Lone Star State to face the Mean Green on Nov. 21.

The Black Knights head to the state of North Carolina for the first time in three years when they travel to "Tobacco Road" to  clash with Duke on Sept. 25. Army and the Blue Devils have met on the gridiron 21 times previously, including earlier this year in the Black Knights' 2009 home opener. That 35-19 Duke victory provided the Blue Devils with a slim 11-9-1 series edge. The squads last met in Durham in 1997.

Army and Temple match up for the fourth consecutive year the following week as the Black Knights begin the month of October by hosting the Owls on Oct. 2. Army maintains a slight 4-3 series edge, despite Temple's current two-game winning streak over the Black Knights. The Owls slipped past Army 27-13 two weeks ago in Philadelphia, Pa.

The Black Knights return to the road one week later to square off against former Conference USA-mate Tulane on Oct. 9. The teams have battled 13 times in the last 14 years with the Green Wave enjoying a slim 9-7-1 series advantage. The Black Knights defeated Tulane 44-13 in their most-recent trek to the state of Louisiana last fall in a game that was played at Tad Gormley Stadium. Next year's contest is slated to take place at the Louisiana Superdome, home of the National Football League's New Orleans Saints. Tulane escaped Michie Stadium with a 17-16 verdict in the teams' most-recent encounter earlier this month (Oct.3).

Army continues its two game road swing on Oct. 16, journeying down the New Jersey Turnpike for a skirmish with long-standing New York metropolitan rival Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. The Black Knights and Scarlet Knights will battle for the third consecutive year as Army looks to halt a six-game losing streak opposite Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights leveled the all-time series between the schools at 18-18 with last week's 27-10 win at West Point.

Following a week off, the Black Knights conclude the home portion of their 2010 campaign with back-to-back games against military opponents. Army will host VMI for a second straight season on Oct. 30 before beginning its quest for the Commander in Chief's Trophy against Air Force on Nov. 6. Army has captured 12 of its 13 previous meetings with VMI (with the teams scheduled to collide again next month at Michie Stadium), while the Black Knights will be looking for their first victory over Air Force at West Point since 1996.

Army will make its first visit to Kent State on Nov. 13, continuing a series that began just four years earlier with a 17-14 overtime win for the Black Knights at Michie Stadium in 2006.

Army and Notre Dame will battle in their historic encounter at Yankee Stadium seven days later, renewing a tradition that once ruled the college football landscape. While Notre Dame and Army have met on 49 previous occasions, the "golden era" of the rivalry came in the mid-1940s. Over four straight seasons from 1943 through 1946, both Notre Dame and Army entered their Yankee Stadium matchup ranked fifth or higher nationally in that week's Associated Press poll.

The 2010 Army-Notre Dame matchup will mark the first college football game at the home of the Yankees since Grambling hosted Central State in the Whitney M. Young Urban Classic on Sept. 12, 1987, at the original Yankee Stadium. Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Army 37-8-4, including a 14-5-3 record at the original Yankee Stadium. Previous Yankee Stadium games between the Irish and Black Knights took place from 1925 to 1929, 1931 to 1946, and in 1969 (the 100th anniversary of college football), which stands as the final Army-Notre Dame matchup played at the original Yankee Stadium.

The contest will be the second of a series of "off-site" home football games for Notre Dame in which the Irish are taking games that could be played at Notre Dame Stadium and moving them to venues around the country. The first of those will take place this Saturday (Oct. 31) when Notre Dame and Washington State meet at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Following two weeks off, Army and Navy will conclude college football's regular season with the arch rivals' annual clash in the Army-Navy Game, presented by USAA in Philadelphia, Pa., on Dec. 11. Lincoln Financial Field will serve as host to "America's Game" as the classic rivalry returns to the "City of Brotherly Love" for the 83rd time. It will mark the 111th edition of battle and the seventh to be played at the "Linc," home of the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles.

Full season ticket packages for the 2010 Army football campaign will go on sale Dec. 1. Due to the limited number of tickets dispersed to the Army Athletic Association for Notre Dame's home game against the Black Knights at Yankee Stadium, only full season ticket account-holders will have an opportunity to request Army-Notre Dame tickets from the Army Athletic Association's allotment. Beginning Dec. 1, fans will be able to purchase season tickets online at www.goARMYsports.com; by phone at 1-877-TIX-ARMY or in person at the Army Ticket Office inside Holleder Center.

Thanks to a new five-year agreement with CBS College Sports Network that will run from 2010 through 2014, all Army home games will be televised live nationally by CBS College Sports Network. Kickoff times will be scheduled for either noon or 3:30 p.m. and set no later than May 1, 2010.

2010 ARMY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE  
Sept. 4     at Eastern Michigan
Sept. 11   HAWAI'I
Sept. 18   NORTH TEXAS
Sept. 25   at Duke
Oct. 2      TEMPLE
Oct. 9       at Tulane
Oct. 16     at Rutgers
Oct. 30     VMI
Nov. 6      AIR FORCE
Nov. 13    at Kent State
Nov. 20    Notre Dame (at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, N.Y.)
Dec. 11    Navy (at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa.)