Iowa, Kansas will play at Field of Dreams Ballpark, site's first power conference college baseball matchup

Following two Major League Baseball games played at the Field of Dreams Ballpark in Dyersville, Iowa, Kansas and Iowa will become the first two Division I college baseball teams to play at the field originally constructed for the 1989 film starring Kevin Costner.

The Iowa athletics department and official Field of Dreams movie site announced the game on Monday, which is scheduled to be played on Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. ET. The game will be an exhibition played during the fall, outside the regular college baseball season that typically runs from February through May (and into June for teams in the NCAA baseball tournament).

Playing at Field of Dreams in the fall creates a different backdrop, as The Athletic's Scott Dochterman points out. Rather than lush fields of tall, green cornstalks during the summer months, the ballpark will likely be surrounded by withered, brown and shorter stalks during harvest season. Yet that could provide some compelling fall color.

Dyersville and the Field of Dreams Ballpark is located approximately 80 miles from the University of Iowa in Iowa City and 400 miles from the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

Last season, Kansas won the Big 12 with a 22-8 record and 45-18 overall mark. After winning the conference tournament, head coach Dan Fitzgerald's Jayhawks advanced to and hosted a NCAA super regional where they lost to eventual national champion Oklahoma.

Iowa finished 15-15 in the Big Ten and 33-23 overall under head coach Rick Heller. The Hawkeyes were eliminated in the conference tournament by Purdue.

Preceding the Iowa-Kansas matchup, the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins will play the third MLB game at Field of Dreams. The two previous MLB games played in Dyersville were between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox in 2021, then the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals in 2022.

MLB hadn't played at the Field of Dreams park for the past four years while the site was sold to new owners and a permanent facility was built with fields for youth baseball and softball teams.

Since then, high school games and senior baseball contests have been played there. The Iowa Cubs and St. Paul Saints will play a minor-league game at the ballpark on Aug. 11. Field of Dreams will also be the home of the Dyersville Dreamers of the summer college Northwoods League, beginning next year.