Kansas football picked ninth in Big 12 Preseason Media Poll

Kansas football has had a lot of good publicity recently.

Head coach Lance Leipold and his staff have four players on the Big 12 Preseason First Team All-Big 12 list – including the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Jalon Daniels. They currently have a top-40 recruiting class in the country. The team is coming off of its first bowl appearance in 14 years, and much-needed renovations are finally happening to the football stadium and other facilities.

By many accounts, the program is on the rise for the first time in more than a decade.

But based on the Big 12 media members’ predictions for the 2023 season, it’s clear that KU still has a long way to go to prove they are a true contender in the Big 12 Conference.

The Jayhawks were picked to finish ninth this upcoming season ahead of Iowa State, three Big 12 newcomers (BYU, Houston, and Cincinnati), and the West Virginia Mountaineers. KU (461) finished just two points behind other Big 12 newcomer UCF (463) in the preseason rankings.

Incredibly, it marks the first time since 2011 – when the Big 12 got rid of divisions – that Kansas was not picked to finish last in the conference.

That’s obviously an encouraging sign for the program, but with 17 of 22 starters returning for the Jayhawks – including four projected First Team All-Big 12 players (tied for second most in the Big 12) – you’d think the team would at least be selected to finish in the upper half of the conference this year.

Regardless, preseason predictions and polls are never the end all be all, and KU still has a great chance to build upon last season’s success and return to a bowl game due to all their returning talent. But they will need to continue to show improvement if they hope to navigate a tough Big 12 schedule.

With the competitive mentalities of players like Daniels, safety Kenny Logan Jr., and several other players and coaches on this team, you can bet they will use this preseason ranking as a motivating factor for this upcoming season.