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GREENSBORO — At midnight Saturday, N.C. A&T will get credit for a victory in a football game that never was.

Delaware State will forfeit a MEAC game to the Aggies, who take a victory but lose a home game off their schedule.

Chances are, Delaware State (1-3) will lose twice in one day: The Hornets forfeit comes the same day as a trip to Big Ten powerhouse Michigan (4-2) for a guarantee game.

Michigan will pay Delaware State $550,000 to come play the game. But the Hornets will not keep all that money.

The MEAC has fined Delaware State "right around $100,000" as a penalty for forfeiting a conference game, A&T athletics director Wheeler Brown said Monday.

Delaware State and A&T have also reached a financial settlement to cover the Aggies' lost revenue from a home game. Brown would not say how much money A&T will receive because the contracts have not yet been signed.

"We didn't hose them," Brown said.

"I think it was a fair number. It's a number I think everyone can live with."

Even so, the number is likely significant because the reimbursement must cover:

* Losses from approximately 2,500 season-ticket sales.

"That's the first thing you throw into the equation," Brown said.

* Losses from game-day ticket sales. General admission prices vary depending on the opponent, but are right around $30 per ticket. And the Aggies have drawn average crowds of 14,500.

"You have to estimate how many other fans would show up at that particular time," Brown said. "That's a game (the same day as) when we have University Day, which is when we invite high school kids to visit the campus. How many of those kids would have come to the game? Plus, the team is doing fairly well, and they've exceeded expectations projected before the season based on (turnouts for) the Norfolk State and Hampton games. Interest is high, so you have to kind of guess what the crowd this week would've been."

* Losses from food and merchandise sales.

"You look at concessions, and those losses are very, very real," Brown said. "Your vending losses are real. And then you've got your tailgating area. You've got to be cognizant of that because we sold out of tailgating slots this year. That's one less game you have to offer, and that affects the price of your tailgate areas."

Both Brown and Aggies coach Alonzo Lee said the timing of the forfeit helps A&T's team.

"You'd love to be out there for the fans and for the competition, but it really couldn't have come at a better time," Lee said. "We get a bye week midway through the schedule, and we can use it. ... Now we've got time to sit back and evaluate where we are, in addition to letting our guys get a little healthier this week. We're not going to do a lot of banging this week in practice. It's going to be all teaching and running and lifting."

A&T's next game is Oct. 24 at Howard. The Aggies play their final home game Oct. 31.

"I hate it because we couldn't give our fanbase more than four home games. We'd like to give them at least five or better," Brown said. "But we're getting a conference win, and we're getting compensated, and two out of three ain't bad."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com