Kansas football: Jayhawks make 2023 debut in AP Poll

Kansas football made its first appearance in the AP Poll this season, ranking No. 24 in the nation following its win against BYU yesterday.

The Kansas Jayhawks (4-0, 1-0) had not been ranked in the college football AP Poll since 2009 heading into the 2022 season. Now, they have been listed in consecutive years under head coach Lance Leipold.

AP released its weekly poll today, and Kansas debuted on it for the first time since Week 6 of last year. They are coming off a 38-27 victory against BYU in its conference play opener. KU also defeated Missouri State, Illinois, and Nevada in non-conference play.

Losses by No. 19 Colorado, No. 22 UCLA, and No. 24 Iowa paved the way for Kansas to make it. All three of those schools dropped out of this week’s poll.

One spot ahead of Kansas football at No. 23 is its bitter rival, Missouri. The Tigers kicker drilled a 61-yard field goal as time expired against Kansas State a week ago and beat Memphis yesterday by the score of 34-27.

Kansas has shown tremendous improvements in its first handful of games and could make some serious noise in the Big 12. However, the Jayhawks will fall out of the AP Poll relatively quickly if they can’t overcome No. 3 Texas this upcoming Saturday on the road. Steve Sarkisian’s group is also undefeated and beat Alabama on the road in Week 2.

If KU does somehow defeat Texas — after all, they beat them on the road in 2021 — there’s a serious chance that they vault into the top 10 of the poll. Nonetheless, it is likely to be a short-lived stint, even if they wind up making an appearance again later in the season.

This is the full AP Poll, including Kansas football:

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Texas
4. Ohio State
5. Florida State
6. Penn State
7. Washington
8. USC
9. Oregon
10. Utah
11. Notre Dame
12. Alabama
13. LSU
14. Oklahoma
15. North Carolina
16. Washington State
17. Duke
18. Miami
19. Oregon State
20. Ole Miss
21. Tennessee
22. Florida
23. Missouri
24. Kansas
25. Fresno State