Kansas football: What ESPN’s FPI thinks of the 2020 Jayhawks

Les Miles is trying to get the Kansas football program turned around, but ESPN’s FPI doesn’t think next year’s squad will be the one to do it.

Kansas football has been at the bottom of the Big 12 for well over a decade, and ESPN’s Football Power Index doesn’t think that’ll change next season. The FPI predicts the Jayhawks will finish the season with a meager 2.5-9.5 record. Kansas is also projected to finish dead last in the Big 12 Conference.

Looking at the Kansas Jayhawks’ projected win probability for each game, there’s only one that KU football is favored and that’s against New Hampshire. Other than that, Kansas’ highest probability of winning a game comes against Boston College at home, where the Jayhawks have a 34.2 percent chance according to FPI.

In terms of Big 12 play, things look especially bleak for the Jayhawks. Kansas football’s best chance for a conference win will come against Iowa State on October 3, when the Jayhawks are given a lousy 15.7 percent chance to in by FPI.

ESPN’s FPI certainly doesn’t paint a very positive picture for Les Miles’ second season, but things are changing; it still may take a year or two before we see it on the field though.

So far, Miles and his staff have done an excellent job on their 2021 recruiting class which ranks No. 22 in the country according to 247 Sports. If the coaching staff can continue to keep the class ranked so high nationally it’d only be a matter of time until fans see a difference on the field.

READ MORE: 2021 recruiting class continues to grow

For next season though, the FPI seems pretty fair. The quarterback position is a huge question mark for the Jayhawks given the graduation of last season’s starter Carter Stanley. Not only that, but Kansas’ defense was one of the worst in the country last year, ranking at No. 122 out of 130 in the nation in total defense according to the NCAA. In 2020, don’t expect that defense to be a whole lot better.

Obviously, statistics are useful but not always correct; however in this case, it’s probably wise not to expect a ton out of next season’s team in terms of wins unless something crazy happens.