Kansas football receives less than ideal spot in Big 12 preseason poll

At the bottom of the Media’s Big 12 Preseason Poll for 2020, Kansas football will once again be trying to climb out of the cellar.

Nothing new or unexpected here, but Kansas football was picked to finish last place in the conference according to the Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll. The Jayhawks will be playing this season (if there is a season) to try and show that the Les Miles era is moving in a positive direction.

Interestingly, Kansas was picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 by 247Sports, so there is some belief that the Jayhawks will improve from their first season under Miles. Granted, 247Sports put that prediction out before news of the Big Ten and Pac-12 moving to conference-only schedules.

Here are the projected standings from the Big 12 media for the 2020 season, as well as when and where Kansas is scheduled to play them:

1. Oklahoma – November 21, Away
2. Oklahoma State – October 27, Home
3. Texas – November 7, Home
4. Iowa State – October 3, Home
5. Baylor – September 12, Away
6. TCU – November 28, Home
7. Kansas State – October 10, Away
8. West Virginia – October 24, Away
9. Texas Tech – November 14, Away
10. Kansas – N/A

Interestingly, Kansas will be playing three of the top four teams at home, which is good and bad. On one hand, playing those teams at home increases the Jayhawks’ low chances of winning; however, Kansas has better chances of beating teams like Texas Tech and West Virginia, and playing them on the road seriously hurts those chances.

Another observation is that the Jayhawks won’t have to face top-ranked teams in back to back weeks like they did last season when they had Oklahoma and Texas in back to back games, or when Kansas had a stretch of Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Baylor to end the season in 2019.

Of course, some of these teams could surprise people and turn the rankings on its head, like last season when Baylor was picked to finish fifth in the Preseason Media Poll. Hopefully, the surprise team this season will be the Kansas Jayhawks.