The two-time Great Lakes Valley Conference champion Lindenwood Lions will play their first season as members of NCAA Division this fall. (Photo: Cedric Williams)

by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

ST. CHARLES, MO — The Lindenwood University athletics department released its full 2022 football schedule on Wednesday. Lindenwood will be competing at the NCAA Division I FCS level for the first time this fall, and will be doing so as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Lions are coming off two straight Great Lakes Valley Conference championships at the Division II level, and the entire program is excited about moving up to FCS D-I.

“After finishing what I believe was an enthusiastic and successful offseason, I know our program is aware of the challenges of this new era of Division I, and we’ve worked hard in preparing for them,” Lindenwood head coach Jed Stugart said, in a statement released by the team. “The one thing that doesn’t change is our expectations of our program and importance putting the work in. That’s the one thing we can control.”

Lindenwood will open its season in Texas, on September 10, when the Lions will travel south to play Houston Baptist. The Huskies are members of the Southland Conference and went 0-11 last season.

The 2022 Lindenwood home opener will be the following week, on September 17, when the Lions will host NAIA powerhouse, Keiser University.

The Seahawks started their program just four seasons ago, in 2018, and already have a 33-9 record and have made the NAIA playoffs three times.

Lindenwood will begin OVC league play after that, with three road matchups in its next four games.

The OVC opener will be on September 24, when the Lions travel down to Tennessee to take on defending conference champion, Tennessee-Martin.

Lindenwood’s first home conference game will be on October 1, against new in-state rival against Southeast Missouri State. SEMO was 4-7 last year, but had a 4-2 mark in OVC games.

The Lions will play two straight road games after that, with an October 8 visit to Central Arkansas, and an October 15 trip to Eastern Illinois.

Lindenwood will be at home for three of its final four games in 2022, beginning with its final home OVC game, on October 22, against Murray State. The Racers were 6-5 last season, after ending the year on a three-game winning streak.

Lions fans will see an old a familiar foe, the following week, when William Jewell College visits Harlen C. Hunter Stadium on October 29. Last year, Lindenwood played WJC in Liberty, Mo., and defeated the Cardinals, 53-10.

The final road game of the season will come the next week, when the Lions will travel back to Tennessee to take on Tennessee Tech. The Golden Eagles were 3-8 last season, but two of those wins came at home for a team trying to develop a true home field advantage.

The final game of the 2022 season will come the following week, on November 12, when Lindenwood will host former GLVC foe, McKendree. Last year, the Lions knocked off the Bearcats, 45-30, at Hunter Stadium and celebrated winning its second GLVC title afterward.

Lindenwood announced on February 23, 2022 that it had accepted an invitation to join the Ohio Valley Conference starting in the fall of 2022.

The football team brings recent success from NCAA Division II into the mix. The Lions won two GLVC Championships, and made appearances in the NCAA Division II Playoffs in both 2019 and 2021.