It’s been a rollercoaster of a season for the Kansas football program.
After starting 5-0 for the first time since 2009 and climbing as high as No. 19 in the AP Top 25, the Jayhawks lost their Heisman-hopeful quarterback Jalon Daniels to an injury in the TCU game and proceeded to lose three straight games.
The Jayhawks have also lost key players in Daniel Hishaw and Cobee Bryant to injuries this season.
But following a much-needed bye week to rest and recover, this football team should have one major motivating factor heading into the final stretch of the season: bowl eligibility.
Changing expectations
Heading into this year, if any Kansas fan would have been told that the Jayhawks would finish 5-7 overall, the majority of them would have signed up for that in a heartbeat.
Prior to this season, simply being competitive and winning 2-3 games would have been viewed as success by most.
That is no longer the case.
After going undefeated in their first five games, expectations changed for this team.
Regardless of where this program has been or what has transpired this year, if you start a season 5-0 in a league like the Big 12, the expectation is (and should be) for you to reach a bowl game – something Kansas hasn’t done since 2008 when the Jayhawks finished 7-5 in the regular season and beat Minnesota in the Insight Bowl.
Opportunities ahead
It just takes one more win to solidify this season as an undeniable success, and the Jayhawks have a chance to make that happen this weekend.
They’re currently just 2-point underdogs to Oklahoma State – who may be playing without their star quarterback Spencer Sanders due to an injury suffered last week against Kansas State.
There’s potential that the Jayhawks may get back Bryant and Daniels as well – both of whom are practicing this week according to the coaching staff.
KU’s remaining opponents are on the road against unranked Texas Tech, home against unranked Texas, and then on the road at No. 13-ranked Kansas State.
Whether it comes this weekend or during one of their remaining games, the opportunity is there for the Jayhawks to get that much-needed sixth win.
For the first time in more than a decade, the Jayhawks have a chance to end their 14-year bowl drought and put the final bow on what would be a wildly successful season in year two of the Lance Leipold era.