Kansas football’s trip to London isn’t just a novelty on the 2026 schedule. It might be the game that tells the whole story of the season.
When the Jayhawks meet Arizona State in the Union Jack Classic at Wembley Stadium on Sept. 19, the setting will be big for the program’s visibility, with fans across the Atlantic getting a look at KU as college sports keeps pushing overseas. But for Lance Leipold’s team, the spotlight comes with real weight.
The timing makes this one especially tricky. Kansas opens with a tune-up against Long Island on Sept. 4, then turns around for the renewed Border Showdown in Lawrence after falling 42-31 in Columbia a year ago. After that physical rivalry game, the Jayhawks will spend a full day traveling to England, and that’s before even getting into the challenge of adjusting to a first grass field of the season.
That’s why the Arizona State game feels like such a hinge point. A loss there would send Kansas to 1-2, and the margin for error would get razor thin. The Jayhawks need to win at least one of those games to realistically have a shot at getting back to a bowl for the first time in three years.
There’s also a familiar cautionary tale hanging over this trip. Last year’s Farmageddon matchup in Dublin became the turning point in Kansas State’s season, and the Wildcats never recovered.
They also lost current Kansas running back Dylan Edwards for most of the year after he muffed a punt in the first quarter and was injured. Even with chances to open the season the right way, they let it slip, and the collapse followed.
Kansas will have one advantage K-State didn’t: a bye week after the London game. That should help, though it still won’t erase the effects of a long trip overseas or the jet lag that comes with it.
If there’s a short list of games that matter most for the Jayhawks in 2026, it starts with the Border War, the London game and the Sunflower Showdown. For KU, those three will go a long way toward determining whether this becomes the bounce-back year the program is chasing.
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