Kansas heads to West Virginia this weekend with the math getting ugly fast. If the Jayhawks want bowl eligibility, they have to win out, and that road starts in Morgantown against what looks like their best remaining shot at another victory.
The matchup comes with both teams carrying very different kinds of frustration. West Virginia is 5-4 overall and 2-4 in Big 12 play, while Kansas sits at the bottom of the league at 3-6 and 1-5 in conference. The Jayhawks have spent too much of this season digging out of holes they created themselves, and Saturday’s loss to UCF fit that script almost perfectly.
Kansas had all kinds of mistakes pile up and fell behind 26-7 five minutes into the third quarter. Then came the kind of rally that keeps a team hanging around: the Jayhawks clawed all the way back and grabbed a six-point lead with 1:06 left.
But the ending was painfully familiar. UCF drove back for a touchdown on the final play and converted the extra point to win it.
That collapse also put a harsh number in focus. Mike Vernon, who covers Kansas for KUhearings.com, tweeted a stat Saturday night that says plenty about how this stretch has gone for KU: “Since 2024, Kansas has lost 7 of 10 games against P4 opponents in which it held a one-possession lead at any point in the FINAL 2 MINUTES.”
Over the last three seasons, Kansas has lost seven of 10 games when leading in the final two minutes. That’s the kind of number that hangs over a program, because it points to wins that were there for the taking.
Those games could have meant bowl trips in 2024 and 2025, and maybe another one this season. The Jayhawks’ only Big 12 win this year came in similar fashion, when they survived Baylor by blocking a field goal in the final minute to escape with a one-point victory.
Now they get another chance to clean that up, and they’ll have to do it in cold conditions. Kansas will travel to Morgantown, WV, to face West Virginia on Saturday, November 14 at 4:30 pm CT. The game will be played at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, which seats 60,000.
The game will air on ESPNU. Fans can stream it on FuboTV and on Disney+ with the ESPN package, with subscriptions required for both services.
BetMGM has not released betting lines or odds yet.
Weather could be part of the story, too. This will be Kansas’ first cold-weather game of the season, with temperatures in Morgantown expected to be in the mid-to-high 30s by kickoff. Weatherbug also says there is a chance for snow.
There were a couple of notable Kansas notes coming out of the UCF game. Isaiah Marshall returned to the lineup and led the Jayhawks in rushing with 125 yards. Dylan Edwards had a tougher night, finishing with 24 yards on 13 carries and a fumble against UCF.
Marshall also had another slow start before settling in after halftime. He struggled in the first half, then bounced back and finished 21-for-32 for 210 yards. He still overthrows receivers too often, but he was much better in the second half.
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Self said Council is expected to make a full recovery and hopes to be back around the start of Big 12 play, but the immediate concern is covering his absence through the rest of the nonconference schedule. For Kansas, that means more responsibility for the other guards and a little less margin for error while the team waits for one of its key perimeter pieces to return. [Read more 🡒]