If you schedule it, they will play

And you thought the 2026 Kansas baseball season was a dream.

Just wait for what's next.

On Monday, it was announced that the KU baseball team added another quality Big Ten opponent to it's 2026-27 schedule in the Iowa Hawkeyes.

But that's not even half of the story.

See, when Dan Fitzgerald's Jayhawks take on Iowa this October during a fall ball game that will not count on their 2027 record, they'll be doing so at one of the most iconic ballparks in all of baseball.

Iowa's Field of Dreams.

The Jayhawks and Hawkeyes will face off on the famed movie-set field on Saturday, October 10 in Dyersville, Iowa. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.

All tickets for the game, at a park that typically holds around 4,000 fans but can be expanded to closer to 8,000 for bigger games, will be general admission and will cost $12 plus a $2.22 purchasing fee.

The idea of playing on the field made famous by the smash hit 1989 Kevin Costner baseball film, "Field of Dreams," is not an entirely new concept. According to an ESPN article touting this year's August game between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies, Major League Baseball first played at the Field of Dreams in 2021, when the Chicago White Sox defeated the New York Yankees 9-8 that season. A year later, the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds at Field of Dreams, 4-2.

From the sound of things, more college and MLB games will be played at the field in the years to come, ensuring that famous lines like, 'Hey, is this heaven? No, it's Iowa.' and "If you build it, he will come," will continue to live on for generations to come.

As for the teams on the field, Iowa finished the 2026 season at 33-23 and bowed out in the Big Ten tournament.

The Jayhawks, meanwhile, will have a decidedly different roster than the one that won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and also hosted and won a regional before bowing out of the NCAA Tournament to eventual national champ Oklahoma at a home super regional.

But there should be several familiar faces in the lineup, and the Jayhawks, once again, have done well on the recruiting trail so far this offseason.

In the past couple of weeks alone, key 2026 contributors Boede Rahe (P), Manning West (P), Augusto Mungarrieta (C), Dylan Schlotterback (3B) and Cade Baldridge (2B) announced their intentions to run it back with the Jayhawks for another year of fun.

And that's on top of returning pitchers Riane Ritter and Mason Cook, who both could start, along with starting centerfielder Tyson Owens.

The fall season, as much as anything, will be designed to sort out who fits where and mix in the newcomers to the KU culture and lineup. So, the version of Kansas baseball that we see in Iowa likely will not be the finished product.

Still, it's a pretty cool opportunity for all of those guys and it seems like a safe bet that Fitzgerald and his staff will get as many of them into that game as possible.

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com