The Baylor Bears have added the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals to their 2019 football schedule, according to an official release by UIW this afternoon.
Baylor and Incarnate Word will meet at McLane Stadium in Waco on August 31, 2019. The game will be the season-opener and first ever meeting between the two schools.
Incarnate Word, which began playing football in 2007, moved up from Division II to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) last season. The Cardinals are members of the Southland Conference, home to schools such as Central Arkansas, Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, and Stephen F. Austin.
“Playing Baylor in football is just another exciting step in the growth and expansion of the UIW Brand,” UIW Directors of Athletics Mark Papich said. “We have always maintained that the move to NCAA Division I would be in line with the goals we strive for spiritually and academically. We want our student-athletes to reach for something more, to be challenged on a daily basis and to leave UIW stronger in their faith and knowledge with a sense of accomplishment for accepting those challenges.”
The addition of UIW tentatively completes Baylor’s non-conference football schedule in 2019. The Bears are also slated to host UTSA on Sept. 7 and travel to Rice on Sept. 14.