The Big 12 schedule drop gave Kansas fans something real to circle, and the full slate looks better than the first wave of matchups might have suggested. Still, there are a few stretches that jump out immediately - and not for the faint of heart.
The toughest run on the calendar comes early in February, when Kansas gets hit with a four-game stretch that feels like a full conference exam. From February 1st until the 13th, the Jayhawks will face Houston away, Texas Tech at home, Arizona State at home and Iowa State away.
That sequence is brutal for a simple reason: there’s no soft landing anywhere. Kelvin Sampson’s teams have made a living by making games ugly and hard to score in, and doing that inside the Fertitta Center only makes the job tougher.
Texas Tech is still a tricky piece to sort out under Grant McCasland, who has settled in quickly at Lubbock and is 2-1 against Bill Self at TTU. If not for Darryn Peterson's heroics last season, that mark would be 3-0.
Arizona State comes next, with Randy Bennett taking over and still working through the usual first-year head coach adjustments. But Kansas can’t treat that one as a breather.
That was the same kind of thinking against Bobby Hurley last season, and it didn’t work out as planned. Then comes Iowa State on the road, and that’s the kind of game that tells you plenty about a team.
T. J.
Otzelberger already ended Kansas’ eight-game winning streak last season inside Hilton Coliseum.
Before that February gauntlet, Kansas also has one of the trickiest nonconference stretches you’ll find anywhere. From December 6th through the 19th, Bill Self’s team will play Missouri at a neutral site, UConn away and Ohio State at a neutral site.
None of those games come inside Allen Fieldhouse, and all three opponents should be in the NCAA Tournament mix. Missouri’s Dennis Gates hasn’t been perfect, but his 2026 recruiting class ranked No. 9 in the country and includes five-star combo guard Jason Crowe Jr. The Bryson Tiller switch from Kansas to Missouri will also be one plenty of people remember.
UConn already handled Kansas in a 61-56 grind inside Allen Fieldhouse, then went on to reach the national championship game before losing to Michigan. Ohio State may not carry the same national buzz, but Jake Diebler has shown steady year-over-year progress and will see KU as a huge chance to grab the game’s biggest scalp.
Then there’s the finish. From Feburary 27th through March 6th, Kansas closes the regular season with Kansas State at home, Iowa State at home and Baylor on the road.
That run gives KU a final chance to sharpen up before the Big 12 Tournament. Kansas State, now led by new coach Casey Alexander, sets up a Sunflower Showdown that should bring plenty of edge. Iowa State gives Kansas one last home game, and Baylor is always going to ask a physical question under Scott Drew, whose 23 seasons have produced plenty of ups and downs but also plenty of difficult nights for opponents.
For Kansas, these are the stretches that will shape the season.
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The most immediate pressure point comes when the Jayhawks return to action, because the schedule offers little chance to ease back in. Kansas will spend the week sorting through the rest of its forecast, including the updated win probabilities and implied betting spreads that now frame each remaining matchup, with the trip to Utah looming as the kind of game that can quickly tilt the entire outlook one way or the other. [Read more 🡒]