Charlotte–East Carolina rivalry
The Charlotte–East Carolina rivalry is a multi-sport college rivalry series between the 49ers of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Pirates of East Carolina University. The two North Carolina public universities are located within a four-hour drive of each other and have competed against each other in athletic contests since 1979. The two schools were non-football conference mates from 2001 until 2005 in C-USA. Both were scheduled to return as conference mates in C-USA in 2013 after Charlotte restarted football, but after one year of non-football conference play (Charlotte couldn't move football to FBS till 2015) ECU departed C-USA for the Big East/AAC for the 2014/15 season. The two programs will be reunited as conference mates in 2023 when Charlotte joins ECU in the AAC. Football

The newest sports rivalry between these in-state foes began on October 21, 2023 when the 49ers played at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for the first time. Charlotte restarted their long defunct football program in 2013 and was invited to rejoin Conference USA, which at the time included East Carolina as a member. Shortly afterwards, East Carolina was invited as a football-only member to the Big East Conference, eventually becoming a full-sports member when the football playing schools of the Big East reorganized into the AAC. A non-conference series was originally scheduled between the two programs to start in 2024. When Charlotte agreed in October of 2021 to join the AAC starting in the 2023 season, both programs scheduled new non-conference series with other programs. In November of 2023 the AAC released their four year conference schedule, which featured Charlotte and ECU as each others annual rivalry game. ECU head coach Mike Houston had been offered and accepted in principle to become the 49ers' head coach in late November of 2018. The offer was withdrawn on November 30 after it became public that Houston was still considering other options. He subsequently became the Pirates' head coach on December 3. The 49ers went on to hire Will Healy on December 5. The 49ers' series inaugural victory was Biff Poggi's first win over an FBS team, and his and the program's first win over an AAC opponent. The 49ers would also set a new program record for least yards allowed at 127 yards. Game Results

Basketball

Charlotte has controlled the series with a nearly two-to-one advantage, which included both schools being conference and non-conference foes during that time period. Game Results

Baseball

Baseball was the first sport the two universities played against each other after Charlotte moved up from the NAIA to the NCAA in the 1970's, 1979 being the 49ers baseball program's inaugural season. East Carolina, with a long tradition of dominant baseball performances and multiple post-season appearances has easily controlled the baseball matchup between these two institutions. Game Results

References

College sports in North Carolina
College sports rivalries in the United States
College football rivalries in the United States
College basketball rivalries in the United States
College baseball rivalries in the United States
Charlotte 49ers
East Carolina Pirates
1966 establishments in North Carolina
1971 establishments in North Carolina