COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Saint John's University football program added two non-conference opponents for the 2015-17 seasons, head football coach Gary Fasching announced on Tuesday, July 29.

The Johnnies will host Buena Vista (Iowa) for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Sept. 12, 2015, and travel to Storm Lake, Iowa, for the return game on Sept. 10, 2016. SJU still has an open date for the 2015 season opener.

SJU will host St. Scholastica and former SJU offensive coordinator/associate head coach Kurt Ramler '97 in the opener for both the 2016 (Sept. 3) and 2017 (Sept. 2) seasons. Ramler was named head coach of the Saints on March 31. The 2016 meeting will be the first for the two schools on the football field since CSS added the sport in 2008.

"When Kurt took the St. Scholastica job, he and I talked about the possibility of playing each other," Fasching said. "It made sense for both schools, and we are excited that we are able to play another Minnesota college. St. Scholastica has been a playoff team and I think they will get better under Kurt's direction."

SJU is 8-2-1 all-time against current members of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), including a 5-0 record against Northwestern, the Johnnies' most recent UMAC regular-season opponent in 2004-05 and 2010-12. 

The Johnnies are 15-4 all-time against current members of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC), including a 61-0 win over Buena Vista in the NCAA Division III semifinals on Nov. 27, 1976, in Collegeville, the only other meeting between the two schools. Fifteen of the 19 games against IIAC competition were played during the postseason (12-3 SJU record).

"I have always had great respect for the IIAC," Fasching said. "When the possibility opened up to play Buena Vista, our coaching staff thought that this would be a good matchup. I also think they are an up-and-coming program. I expect that this will be an exciting matchup for both teams."

The last time SJU scheduled an IIAC school for a regular-season series occurred during the 1970 and 1971 campaigns against Wartburg: Sept. 12, 1970 (W, 38-0) and Sept. 11, 1971 (W, 49-13).

The Johnnies open their 2014 season with a 1 p.m. kickoff Sept. 6 against Wisconsin-River Falls in Clemens Stadium.

2014 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Time
Sept. 6	Wisconsin-River Falls	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Sept. 13	at Wisconsin-Eau Claire	Eau Claire, Wis.	6 p.m.
Sept. 20	Concordia-Moorhead	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Sept. 27	at St. Thomas	St. Paul, Minn.	1:10 p.m.
Oct. 4	Hamline (Homecoming)	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 11	BYE WEEK
Oct. 18	at Gustavus Adolphus	St. Peter, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 25	Carleton (Family Weekend)	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 1	at Augsburg	Minneapolis, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 8	Bethel	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 15	at St. Olaf	Northfield, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 22	NCAA Playoffs-First Round		12 p.m.

2015 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Time
Sept. 5	OPEN
Sept. 12	Buena Vista, Iowa	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Sept. 19	at Concordia-Moorhead	Moorhead, Minn.	1 p.m.
Sept. 26	St. Thomas	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 3	at Hamline	St. Paul, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 10	BYE WEEK
Oct. 17	Gustavus Adolphus (Homecoming)	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 24	at Carleton	Northfield, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 31	Augsburg (Family Weekend)	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 7	at Bethel	Arden Hills, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 14	St. Olaf	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 21	NCAA Playoffs-First Round		12 p.m.

2016 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Time
Sept. 3	St. Scholastica	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Sept. 10	at Buena Vista, Iowa	Storm Lake, Iowa	1 p.m.
Sept. 17	St. Olaf	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Sept. 24	St. Thomas	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 1	at Bethel	Arden Hills, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 8	at Augsburg	Minneapolis, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 15	Carleton	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 22	at Gustavus Adolphus	St. Peter, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 29	BYE WEEK
Nov. 5	Hamline	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 12	at Concordia-Moorhead	Moorhead, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 19	NCAA Playoffs-First Round		12 p.m.

2017 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Time
Sept. 2	St. Scholastica	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Sept. 9	OPEN
Sept. 16	at St. Olaf	Northfield, Minn.	1 p.m.
Sept. 23	at St. Thomas	St. Paul, Minn.	1 p.m.
Sept. 30	Bethel	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 7	Augsburg	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 14	at Carleton	Northfield, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 21	Gustavus Adolphus	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Oct. 28	BYE WEEK
Nov. 4	at Hamline	St. Paul, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 11	Concordia-Moorhead	Collegeville, Minn.	1 p.m.
Nov. 18	NCAA Playoffs-First Round		12 p.m.