The Owls team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of Conference USA (CUSA).

The team began play in 2015 as a member of the Big South Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.

On November 9, 2007, a survey was administered by the Student Government with 77.6 percent of respondents voting in favor of starting a football program.

[4][5][6][7][8] In December 2009, KSU President Daniel S. Papp appointed a football exploratory committee headed by legendary University of Georgia coach, Vince Dooley.

[12] On September 3, 2013, KSU announced that it would join the Big South Conference as a football-only member to begin play in the 2015 season.

Kennesaw lost its third-straight season opener, a road loss to nearby Georgia State.

After a 56–17 road win against Gardner-Webb, Kennesaw was voted to the number two spot in both the FCS STATS and coaches' polls, behind only North Dakota State.

Holding a 10–1 regular season record, Kennesaw received a first-round bye as the fourth seed in the FCS playoffs.

The Owls lost in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row the following week at home against South Dakota State.