Kansas will have no shortage of challenges when it hits the road in 2026, and the Jayhawks’ away slate looks loaded with some of the Big 12’s most demanding trips.
That matters because if Kansas is going to reach three bowl games in six years under Lance Leipold, the foundation has to be built at home. The good news is that the true home schedule in 2026 looks manageable. The problem is what waits away from Lawrence.
Here’s a look at how the five road games stack up.
West Virginia comes in at No. 5, and even the “easiest” trip on the list carries real weight. That says more about the strength of Kansas’ schedule than any weakness in the Mountaineers.
West Virginia was in transition during Rich Rodriguez’s first year back in Morgantown last season, but things are much more settled now. ESPN analytics give KU a 49.6% chance to win that game, and that number only gets less favorable from there.
TCU lands at No. 4, and the biggest edge Kansas might have is the possibility that the Horned Frogs are already looking ahead to other spots on the schedule. Sonny Dykes has put together 34 wins in four seasons, which is a strong run, and even with Josh Hoover gone, Jaden Craig from Harvard is no slouch. Dykes has shown he can turn quarterbacks into touchdown machines, and that keeps TCU dangerous.
Oklahoma State checks in at No. 3, and the timing is part of what makes it tricky. The teams meet in the second-to-last week of the season, which means this could be a late-season game against a team that’s finding its stride under new head coach Eric Morris.
If the matchup were earlier, it might have ranked lower because Morris could still be adjusting to Big 12 life. Instead, the Cowboys will also have Drew Mestemaker and Caleb Hawkins in the mix.
More on that can be found here.
Utah is No. 2, and even with Kyle Whittingham gone, this is still a team that can realistically contend for the Big 12. Morgan Scalley has been with the program since 2006, starting as an administrative assistant and climbing all the way up the ladder.
His first year as head coach could bring some ups and downs, but he knows the program inside and out. If you looked up “coach in waiting” in the dictionary, Scalley would be the example.
Kansas State takes the top spot, and this is the one that feels biggest. Maybe there’s some overthinking involved, because this is also a real chance for Leipold to beat Kansas State for the first time in his career and for Kansas to win the matchup for the first time since 2009.
Still, the Wildcats rank No. 1 because there’s a case that this could be Collin Klein’s biggest game of the season, and that’s not true for any of the others on this list. If he keeps the trend going from those before him, he’ll add plenty of credit to the bank.
And there’s also the simple reality that Kansas State tends to play a level above KU when these teams meet. Until that changes, it has to be treated as the toughest road game on the schedule.
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