With Saturday’s loss in the rearview mirror, Kansas Football completed the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 2-1 record. The Jayhawks now turn their attention to the Big 12 slate with their goals still in front of them. Let’s take a look at the conference slate in advance of KU’s open week, their first of three.
KU opens the Big 12 season with back to back home games against West Virginia and Cincinnati, two programs who have been middling for the most part during their time in the conference. West Virginia heads to the Booth on the 20th, and strangely enough it will be the third time in the last four years that the Jayhawks open their conference season with WVU. The Mountaineers are 1-1, blowing out Robert Morris in their opener, 45-3, before losing at Ohio 17-10 last week. More concerning for the Mountaineers is the fact that running back Jaheim White, one of their top players, has been ruled out for the season. White suffered a knee injury in WVU’s loss to Ohio.
Cincinnati is also 1-1 after knocking off Bowling Green 34-20. The Bearcats dropped their opener to Nebraska at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 1. They’re led by quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who has both thrown and rushed for three touchdowns this season.
KU’s first road conference game takes place in Orlando on Oct. 4. UCF is 2-0 with a blowout win over North Carolina A&T in Week 1 and a 17-10 squeaker over Jacksonville State last week. The Knights’ big loss from last year from a roster standpoint was running back RJ Harvey, who is now with the Denver Broncos.
Kansas then travels to Texas Tech, a team ranked in the Top 25 and viewed by many as the favorite to win the conference. Tech is 2-0 also, but the Red Raiders haven’t been tested at all in blowing out Arkansas Pine-Bluff and Kent State. Scoring 60+ in each of their first two games, it’s not surprising Tech is first in the conference in total offense.
The Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Oct. 25 follows KU’s open week as the Jayhawks host K-State at the new Booth. The Wildcats have won each of the last 16 matchups, but are looking particularly vulnerable in 2025. After losing a Week 0 tilt 24-21 to Iowa State in Dublin, K-State needed a comeback to defeat FCS’ North Dakota in Manhattan in Week 1, and then fell to unranked Army, also at home, in Week 2. A 1-2 start to the season is a rarity in recent years for the ‘cats.
KU returns home on Nov. 1 to host Oklahoma State, a program that head coach Mike Gundy brought to national prominence, but is currently enduring a dreadful past year-plus. After the Pokes went winless in conference play in 2024, they are off to a 1-1 start in 2025, but the loss was an ugly one. OSU knocked off UT-Martin 27-7 in Week 1 before getting clobbered last week by #6 Oregon, 69-3. It will be interesting to see where that program is when they come to Lawrence.
Kansas then closes out their road schedule with tough tests in Tucson and Ames. Arizona, led by veteran QB Noah Fifita, has blown out both Hawaii and Weber State in rolling to 2-0. Iowa State has a rivalry victory over Iowa and a 55-7 victory over South Dakota in addition to the win in the Little Apple.
The Utah Utes come calling on Black Friday to close out Kansas’ 2025 regular season. Utah has been impressive thus far, blowing out UCLA 43-10 and Cal Poly 63-9.
On paper, it sure looks like the brunt of Kansas’ schedule will take place in those final three weeks of the regular season against Arizona, Iowa State and Utah. While the phrase “on paper” can be deceiving (as we’ve seen as recently as 2024 when the preseason Big 12 standings were flipped upside down), it’s a fair assessment at this point. Particularly with a beaten-down West Virginia team littered with questions coming to town on the 20th, KU has a real opportunity to get off on the right foot in the Big 12. Rock Chalk!
Sean Kellerman