Kansas heads into its matchup with Baylor in need of a reset, and the betting market is treating Saturday as close to a coin flip.
The Jayhawks fell to 2-4 after last Saturday’s loss to K-State, leaving them still without a Big 12 win as the season moves deeper into October. The schedule has already taken them through its most brutal run, but the results have not followed.
Next up is Baylor, with kickoff set for 12 p.m. CT on Oct. 24 in Lawrence.
Oddsmakers opened Kansas as a home underdog, and that number has held close to the edge. At FanDuel Sportsbook, Baylor is listed at -1.5 on the spread, while Kansas sits at +1.5.
The moneyline shows Baylor at -134 and Kansas at +112, with the over/under set at 53.5 points. Kansas initially opened as a 2.5-point dog before the line shifted, a sign that sportsbooks see this one as a tight matchup.
The total suggests a game in the neighborhood of 28-26.
Baylor comes in at 4-2 and just took an ugly 17-6 loss to TCU, but a win in Lawrence would push the Bears another step toward bowl eligibility. Like Kansas, Baylor has been getting wildly different versions of its quarterback from week to week. Former Florida Gator DJ Lagway followed a 306-yard, four-touchdown outing in a 55-19 win over Arizona State with a rough night against TCU, going 22-of-53 for 256 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
Kansas has seen that same kind of volatility from its own quarterback, Isaiah Marshall, who has flashed real promise while working through the usual growing pains of a first-year starter. Last week, though, the bigger issue was on defense. The Jayhawks gave up more than 350 rushing yards to the Wildcats, with Joe Jackson and Avery Johnson doing most of the damage.
From the way the line has settled, this is being priced as a true toss-up. Both teams have shown they can light it up when things are going right, and both have also been hard to trust from one week to the next.
Another loss would drop Lance Leipold’s team to 2-5, with few favorable chances left on the schedule. If Kansas is going to start turning this season around, this looks like one of its best remaining opportunities.
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