The Ontario University Athletics (OUA) along with the York University Lions, announced Thursday the schedule for the 2023 football season.

York will look for more consistency in 2023. They hung around early in some games in 2022, but a lack of experience and depth plagued them in a difficult season.

Here is how the 2023 schedule breaks down:

• The Lions begin the season on home turf Aug. 26 against the two-time reigning Yates Cup champion Western Mustangs. This is the first matchup between the two teams since the opening week in 2017.
• In Week 2, the Lions play their first road game of the new season against the Waterloo Warriors on Sept. 3. This is a rematch of the 2022 season opener at York Lions Stadium.
• Week 3 sees York head down the QEW to Hamilton to face the McMaster Marauders on Sept. 9. The Lions beat the Marauders by forfeit at McMaster in 2022.
• In Week 4, York returns home to tangle with the Carleton Ravens Sept. 16. The last matchup between these two teams was highlighted by a 119-yard missed field goal return from Alfred Olay.
• Next, the Lions travel to Guelph on Sept. 23 to face a Grpyhons team that struggled mightily in 2022 despite high expectations. York visits Guelph for the first time since Week 3 of the 2019 season.
• On the Week 6 docket for the Lions is another OUA powerhouse, the Queen's Gaels, back at York Lions Stadium. This is a rematch of the 2022 Week 7 game between the two teams in Kingston.
• The Lions begin the season's final month by hosting the annual Red & Blue Bowl under the lights on Oct. 6. The Thanksgiving Weekend affair will see the Lions try to avenge a tough loss to the Varsity Blues last September in a game that was close in the second half, but got away from them late.
• York then closes out its season after a Week 8 bye on Oct. 21 with the long trek to Windsor to face the upstart Lancers. York led against the Lancers in the second half of their 2022 matchup at York Lions Stadium before eventually going down to defeat. 

Week 1 – Aug. 26

Western at York (1:00 pm)
 

Week 2 – Sept. 3

York at Waterloo (6:00 pm)

Week 3 – Sept. 9

York at McMaster (1:00 pm)

Week 4 – Sept. 16

Carleton at York (1:00 pm)

Week 5 – Sept. 23

York at Guelph (1:00 pm)

Week 6 – Sept. 30

Queen's at York (1:00 pm)

Week 7 – Oct. 6

Toronto at York (RED & BLUE BOWL; 7:00 pm)

Week 9 – Oct. 21

York at Windsor (1:00 pm)

The full 2023 OUA football schedule can be found HERE.