Kansas is heading into Lance Leipold’s sixth season with a schedule that already tells you a lot about what kind of year this could be.
The mood around David Booth Memorial Stadium has been cooled a bit by two straight seasons without a bowl game, but there’s still real belief in this group. A big part of that optimism comes from the staff around Leipold.
Andy Kotelnicki is back, Joe Dineen is now in the program, and there should be a natural jump from second-year defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald.
For now, though, all of that lives in the realm of possibility. The only thing locked in is the schedule, and that’s where the real sorting begins.
Kansas’ slate can be broken into three buckets: layups, coin flips, and underdogs.
The layup category is pretty straightforward. These are the games where anything short of a Kansas win would feel like a letdown. That group starts with LIU at home and Middle Tennessee at home, and it also includes UCF at home and West Virginia on the road.
West Virginia is the one that might raise an eyebrow. Rich Rodriguez is entering year two, and that should make the Mountaineers better than they were in year one.
But the game comes late enough in the season that Kansas should be rolling by then, and a win is the expectation. Last year’s 42-10 result against West Virginia may be part of why that game lands here.
UCF belongs in this tier too, even if Kansas had to grind out a 27-20 win there last season. That game stood out because of the defensive backbone Kansas showed, something that didn’t pop up often enough the rest of the year. At home, this is one of the Big 12 games where Kansas fans should feel good about the outcome, and the Jayhawks need to cash in.
The coin flips are where the season gets interesting. Arizona State at a neutral site, Kansas State on the road, Baylor at home, TCU on the road and Oklahoma State on the road all fit that description.
That’s the stretch that could make or break Kansas. It’s hard to get a clean read on any of those teams right now.
Oklahoma State and Kansas State are both dealing with coaching changes. Baylor and Dave Aranda don’t seem to be on the same page.
Arizona State has already lived through two wildly different seasons under Kenny Dillingham. TCU looks like the most stable of the bunch, but even that doesn’t make the path easy.
Kansas could come out of that run at 1-4, 2-3 or 3-2, and each version would say something different about where the program stands.
Then there are the games where Kansas walks in as the underdog: Missouri at home, Utah on the road and BYU at home.
Missouri is the most obvious challenge on the list. Kansas dropped a painful 42-31 game to the Tigers last season, and the Jayhawks had no answer defensively. With Ahmad Hardy back, that’s a tough assignment for anybody.
Utah is another one where the default expectation leans heavily toward the home team. Kyle Whittingham is gone to Michigan, so there’s at least some uncertainty there, but until the Utes prove otherwise, they should still be viewed as a major favorite.
BYU rounds out the group, and with Brendan Sorsby out of the Texas Tech picture, there’s suddenly more room for the Cougars to push toward the top of the Big 12. In the 2025 season, Sitake’s two losses both came against the Red Raiders, which at least showed he has moved past the problem of losing to a lesser opponent.
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Kansas also has recent proof of why the matchup matters. The Jayhawks handled Missouri 80-60 last season behind Tre Whites 20 points and a strong shooting night from the team, a reminder that the rivalry can still deliver a decisive result even in a lopsided stretch. With the schedule now hanging in the balance, the question is no longer just about one more game, but about whether the Border Showdown gets the staying power its history suggests it deserves. [Read more 🡒]