The Kansas football team has scheduled a game against Wagner College to be played during Week 1 of the 2025 season, according to documents obtained by the Journal-World through a Kansas Open Records Act request.
The game will take place between Aug. 28 and Aug. 30, with KU required to inform Wagner of its chosen date by April 1. Otherwise, it will default to Aug. 30. The Jayhawks will pay the Seahawks, an FCS team, a guarantee of $450,000 for their participation in the contest.
The matchup replaces a previously scheduled one against another FCS opponent, Stephen F. Austin, which had been slated for Aug. 30. KU had signed up for the game with Stephen F. Austin back in 2019 and reached an agreement to cancel it on July 25, as FBSchedules.com first reported. The Lumberjacks will now play at Houston instead of at KU.
KU athletic director Travis Goff signed the Wagner contract on July 25, and Chancellor Douglas Girod did so a day later.
Notably, the Wagner game is not KU’s season opener, even though it takes place during Week 1; the Jayhawks play on Aug. 23 against Fresno State as part of “week zero” in what will be the first game in the new David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. They then travel to face Missouri in the renewal of the Border Showdown on Sept. 6.
Wagner plays in the Northeast Conference. The Seahawks are currently 1-1 on the season after going 4-7 in 2023. Wagner has never beaten an FBS opponent, though it got close when it fell 24-21 to UConn in 2019.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
