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Kansas football: Bowl game selection and opponent for Jayhawks announced

ByJoshua Schulman|
AMES, IA - NOVEMBER 4: Head coach Lance Leipold of the Kansas Jayhawks leaves the field after winning 28-21 over the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium on November 4, 2023 in Ames, Iowa. The Kansas Jayhawks won 28-21 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - NOVEMBER 4: Head coach Lance Leipold of the Kansas Jayhawks leaves the field after winning 28-21 over the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium on November 4, 2023 in Ames, Iowa. The Kansas Jayhawks won 28-21 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images)

Kansas football had its bowl game and opponent released by the CFP Selection Committee today.

After a terrific year for Kansas football which saw them finish the regular season 8-4, Lance Leipold and the Jayhawks are headed to Phoenix, Arizona to play in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Dec. 26 at 8:00 p.m. CT.

KU’s opponent will be the UNLV Rebels, who sit at 9-4 with first-year head coach Barry Odom at the helm. Jayhawk fans might be familiar with Odom, who coached border rival Mizzou from 2016 to 2019 and compiled a 25-25 record during that period.

UNLV had appeared in just one bowl game since the 2001 season and hadn’t finished over .500 for over a decade prior to 2023. Like Kansas, their football program is on an upward trajectory.

Back in 2002 and 2003, these programs scheduled a home-and-home between one another. They split the series 1-1.

It was speculated that Kansas would take on a Big Ten school in the contest, but they’ll ultimately go head-to-head with the Mountain West runner-ups. The Rebels lost 44-20 to Boise State in their conference’s championship game yesterday.

One year after losing to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl, the Jayhawks are searching for their first bowl win since 2008, when Mark Margino’s squad defeated Minnesota in the Insight Bowl (now the Guaranteed Rate Bowl). We could see a fairly new offensive scheme in place, as former offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki departed from the program for the Penn State job a few days ago.

Ironically enough, it won’t be the final time Kansas football competes against the Rebels. The two schools are set to play in Week 3 of the 2024 season while renovations are being completed in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

It will be the final game that Kansas football standouts such as Jason Bean, Kenny Logan Jr., and Dominick Puni don a crimson and blue uniform. The same could go for Devin Neal, Cobee Bryant, and several other players who are considering entering the NFL Draft or the transfer portal.

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