Kansas is heading into its Oct. 24 matchup with Baylor in a spot it didn’t want to be in: still winless in Big 12 play and trying to stop the slide after Saturday’s loss to K-State pushed the Jayhawks to 2-4.
The good news for KU is that the hardest part of the schedule is behind it. The bad news is that the next chance to get right comes against a Baylor team that is also coming off a rough result, a 17-6 loss to TCU, but still sits at 4-2 and is chasing bowl eligibility.
Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. CT in Lawrence.
The betting market sees this one as tight from the start. Kansas opened as a 2.5-point underdog before the line moved to Baylor -1.5 at most sportsbooks.
On FanDuel Sportsbook, Baylor is listed at -1.5, with Kansas at +1.5 on the spread. The moneyline has Baylor at -134 and Kansas at +112, while the over/under is set at 53.5 points.
That total points to a game in the neighborhood of 28-26, and that fits the way both teams have looked lately: dangerous one week, uneven the next.
Baylor’s quarterback, former Florida Gator DJ Lagway, has been a prime example of that swing. One week after throwing for 306 yards and four touchdowns in a 55-19 win over Arizona State, he went 22-for-53 for 256 yards with no touchdowns and an interception against TCU.
Kansas has had its own version of that up-and-down ride with Isaiah Marshall. The first-year starter has shown promise, but the growing pains have been obvious too.
Last week, though, the bigger problem was on the defensive side. KU gave up more than 350 rushing yards to the Wildcats, with Joe Jackson and Avery Johnson doing most of the damage.
That’s why oddsmakers have framed this as nearly a coin flip. Both teams have shown they can light it up when things are clicking, but neither has proven it can be trusted from week to week.
For Lance Leipold and Kansas, the pressure is simple: another loss would send the Jayhawks to 2-5 with very little margin left on the schedule. If KU is going to change the tone of its season, this looks like one of the best chances left.
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Kansas Homecoming Could Carry Bigger Meaning Than Baylor Game
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High school recruits will be in town to see the facilities, the campus feel and the community atmosphere around the program, all of it folded into a weekend that overlaps with the Big 12 Fall Tour. For Kansas, it is another chance to reinforce what the program can offer future classes, with the homecoming setting giving the staff a built-in stage to make the case. [Read more 🡒]