ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Lindenwood University Athletics Program has making history since the program become a NCAA Division I program for the first time ever in July 2022.
While the Lions football program is an Football Championship Division (FCS) school, the program will add some more history to the program when they take on one of the top teams in college football to begin the season.
On Tuesday, the Big 12 conference announced the 2024 schedule for all 16 teams and it announced that Lindenwood will play their ever FBS opponent in program history when they take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Thursday, Aug. 29.
The game will be played at Children's Mercy Park, home of MLS's Sporting KC, in Kansas City, Kansas, due to ongoing renovations at the Jayhawks home stadium field David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
The Jayhawks have seen momentum go up since the program hired Lance Leipold to be the team's head coach. After 13 straight seasons of losing football from 2009 to 2021, Kansas has pulled off two straight bowl game appearances in 2022 and 2023 for the first time since 2007-2008.
With the team achieving nine wins last season, the Jayhawks will be a preseason Top-25 team in all likelihood with expectations for a Big 12 Conference Title in the eyes of Rock Chalk Nation with Texas and Oklahoma moving on to the Southeastern Conference.
The Jayhawks will be rather busy taking on the local schools in the future. Alongside Lindenwood to begin the season, the program will visit Champaign, Illinois to play the Illinois Fighting Illini on Sat. Sept. 7.
Then in 2025, is the matchup Missouri fans have long awaited for as the Jayhawks visit Faurot Field for the first time since the Tigers left the Big 12 for the SEC as they reignite the Border War on Sept. 6, 2025. That will be a home and home series with Mizzou visiting Lawrence in Sept. 12, 2026.
For Lindenwood, the Lions will hope to rebound from a disastrous second division playing the FCS. While the program shocked in their first year in the Ohio Valley Conference going 7-3, the team regressed in its second year going 3-7.