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On Jan. 5, the Sun Belt Conference announced the cross-divisional opponents for the 2023 football season.

With the expansion of the Sun Belt this past season, each of the conference’s teams now play one home game and one away game against a cross-divisional opponent each season. In 2022, Troy played Appalachian State and Marshall from the East.

Troy will play James Madison and Georgia State from the Sun Belt East in 2023. Troy will play James Madison at home and Georgia State on the road.

The matchup with James Madison will be the first time Troy and JMU have played since 1999 and just the third time in the schools’ histories. Troy and JMU have also played just once at Troy, a 27-7 Trojan win in 1999. The only other showdown between the two schools was a 45-26 JMU win in 1994.

Troy and Georgia State will also play for the first time since 2021 and the 10th time in program history. Troy lost the 2021 game 37-10 and has not defeated Georgia State since 2018. The two schools met for the first time in 2013 and Troy holds a slight 5-4 edge over Georgia State.

The Sun Belt will release the full 2023 conference schedule – with dates – on March 1.