Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Links
Thursday, August 29	6:00 p.m.	Sul Ross State	Alpine, Texas	Jackson Field	Stats | FloSports | Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M begins their 2024 campaign on Thursday night as they travel to Alpine, Texas for a Lone Star Conference battle with the Sul Ross State Lobos at Jackson Field with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m.
 
LSC GAME OF THE WEEK
The Week 0 matchup between the Buffs and Lobos has been tabbed the LSC Game of the Week by Add Drop Podcast. Host Terrance Biggs conducted interviews with Josh Lynn and Barry Dickerson earlier this week leading into Thursday night's season opener. Fans can listen to the preview on X/Twitter (@AddDropPodcast).
 
OPENING UP THE SEASON
The Buffs open their 112th season of collegiate football on Saturday afternoon as they are 49-62 all-time in season openers. 
 
LOBOS JOIN THE LSC
Sul Ross State officially became the newest member of the Lone Star Conference on July 1, 2024. SRSU recently complete the first of a three-year provisional membership process in NCAA Division II. The Lobos are projected to gain full Division II status in fall of 2026. Sul Ross State had been affiliated with NCAA Division III and the American Southwest Conference since 1996.
 
WEEK 0 MATCHUPS
Eight members of the LSC open their 2024 season during Week 0. Thursday's slate of games features a league contest between the Buffs and Lobos while Midwestern State, Angelo State, Eastern New Mexico and Texas A&M-Kingsville have non-conference contests. The only contest on Saturday is a league battle between Western New Mexico and reigning LSC champion UT Permian Basin in Odessa.
 
A LOOK AT THE LOBOS
The Lobos closed out their final season of NCAA Division III football with an overall record of 4-6 including a 3-2 record at Jackson Field in Alpine with wins over Wayland Baptist (27-7), Texas Lutheran (37-34) and Howard Payne (47-42).
 
SRSU HEAD COACH BARRY DERICKSON
Barry Derickson is now in his third season at the helm of the Sul Ross State football program, holding an overall record of 8-12 during his time in Alpine. Derickson took over the SRSU program following coaching stops at Valparaiso, Navarro College, UW-Stevens Point, Eastern Kentucky, Howard Payne and his alma mater UW-Oshkosh.
 
THE SERIES
The Buffaloes and Lobos meet for the ninth time on the gridiron on Thursday night, it marks the first meeting between the two since September 29, 1956. The Buffs hold a 6-0-2 all-time lead in the series and they are 2-0 in Alpine with those meeting coming in 1937 and 1939. 
 
HEAD COACH JOSH LYNN
Josh Lynn is now in his second season at the helm of the West Texas A&M Football program after being named the 29th head coach in WT history.
 
Lynn, widely regarded as one of the nation's up-and-coming head coaches, came to Canyon following six seasons at the University of Nebraska-Kearney where he led the Lopers to an overall record of 35-25 including a run to the Second Round of the 2021 NCAA Division II Playoffs. Lynn coached 61 all-conference selections during his time in Kearney while being named the MIAA Coach of the Year in 2021.
 
THIS IS LSC FOOTBALL
LSC football began in 1931. Texas A&M-Kingsville posts a conference-best 27 championships, with its first coming in 1959 and last in 2009. West Texas A&M (1986, 2005-2007 and 2012) has won five LSC crowns.
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
The Buffaloes have been tabbed sixth in the 2024 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll announced during the league's annual Football Media Day.
 
Central Washington picked up 20 of the possible 30 first place votes for a total of 286 points to sit atop of the poll followed by Angelo State (six first place, 260), defending LSC Champion UT Permian Basin (four first place, 244), Texas A&M-Kingsville (202), Midwestern State (153), West Texas A&M (149), Eastern New Mexico (128), Western Oregon (118), Western New Mexico (68) and Sul Ross State (42).
 
WHERE THE BUFFALOES ROAM
West Texas A&M is home to one of the premiere college football facilities in the country as Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium opened on September 7, 2019 to a capacity crowd of 10,145 fans as the Buffs toppled Asuza Pacific, 35-16. The state-of-the-art facility included Hellas Matrix FusionH XP2 artificial turf along with seven ground-level suites and the Fairly Group Club.
 
OPENING THE SEASON
The Buffs open their 112th season of collegiate football on Thursday night as they are 49-62 all-time in season openers. WT has averaged 23.5 points per game during their opener as they have outscored their opponents 2,614-2,026 dating back to the 1910 campaign. 
 
The longest streak of season opening wins for the Buffs is four campaigns (1935-38, 1965-68, 2005-08, 2019-22). 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Thursday night's season opener will be the first Lone Star Conference broadcast affiliated with FloSports. The LSC and FloSports reached a historic agreement in August for the largest streaming rights deal in NCAA Division II history.
 
Fans have two different subscription options: $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year ($8.33/month). As part of their subscription, fans receive access to all FloSports content. Subscriptions can be canceled at any time.
 
HOME OF CHAMPIONS
West Texas A&M is home to one of the most successful athletic programs in all of NCAA Division II.
 
The Buffs and Lady Buffs finished third in the 2023-24 Division II LEARFIELD Director's Cup standings. It marked the sixth straight and eighth overall time that WT finished inside of the Top-10 including the fifth straight inside of the Top-5.
 
ON THIS DAY
The Buffs are 1-1 all-time in games played on August 29th, it marks just the 13th game played by the Buffs in the month of August and the first since 2012.
 
1998 - Oklahoma Panhandle State - W, 54-14
2009 - Grand Valley State - L, 37-23
 
THIS DAY IN SPORTS
1885 - Boxing's first heavyweight title fight takes place in Cincinnati, Ohio between John L. Sullivan and Dominick McCaffery
 
1950 - The International Olympic Committee votes to admit West Germany and Japan starting in 1952
 
1977 - Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals surpasses Ty Cobb's 49-year stolen base record of 892
 
1987 - Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan passes the 200-strikeout plateau for a record 11th time in his career
 
2004 - The 29th Olympic Games close in Athens, Greece
 
2012 - The USADA strips Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles