Kansas basketball’s road to the 2025-26 season is already starting to come into focus, and one Big 12 matchup is getting plenty of early attention.
The Jayhawks are just 24 days away from “Late Night In The Phog,” where they’ll open the buildup to the new year with an exhibition against Pittsburgh State. After that, Kansas still has exhibition dates with Louisville and Duke before Fordham comes to Allen Fieldhouse for the official season opener.
Even with all that on the horizon, the Big 12’s schedule release already put a spotlight on one game: Kansas vs. BYU, which was labeled the third-best conference matchup of the season.
There’s good reason for the buzz. Last season’s meeting in Allen Fieldhouse turned into a fast-moving, high-scoring game. Kansas raced out to a 53-33 lead, only for the Cougars - powered by Richie Saunders and AJ Dybantsa - to claw back and make things uncomfortable before the Jayhawks closed out a 90-82 win.
That game drew most of its attention because of Dybantsa and Peterson, who were viewed as the top two prospects in the 2026 NBA Draft. Peterson scored 18 points on 6/8 shooting, but cramping kept him from having much of an impact after halftime, while Dybantsa logged 34 minutes to Peterson’s 20.
“Although this game won't have that level of hype, it may still be another elite prospect matchup,” opens Cameron Salerno for CBS Sports.
“Kansas freshman Tyran Stokes is widely considered the consensus top-ranked prospect in the 2027 NBA Draft, while BYU wing Bruce Branch III has a strong case to be a top 10 pick. Between Branch, Stokes and BYU guard Rob Wright, this game will definitely not lack star power.”
Still, Kansas has already seen how unforgiving a trip to BYU can be. The Jayhawks went to Provo, Utah, the year before the 2025-26 matchup and suffered a 91-57 loss at the Marriott Center, one of the most lopsided defeats of Bill Self’s career.
BYU may be the game that gets the early national spotlight, but it’s not the only Kansas conference date with a case for top billing. Kansas’ trip to the McKale Center on February 20 could end up carrying even more weight, especially if both teams are in position to treat it as one of the few major tests left on the Big 12 schedule.
Another candidate is Iowa State’s visit to Allen Fieldhouse on March 1, with T.J. Otzelberger’s teams having a habit of producing another strong season in Ames.
Arizona and Iowa State both look like teams built for deep postseason runs, while BYU still has to prove it can bring that level of consistency. Even so, the Big 12 tends to scramble expectations once the games start, and the race for the league’s top matchups could look very different by the time the season settles in.
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