Athlon Sports doesn’t have very high expectations for the Kansas football team in 2025. While ESPN was high on KU and thought the Jayhawks might be a contending team in the Big 12, Athlon is less enthusiastic about their chances.
Kansas did lose a lot of key players, especially from the skill positions. Loyal, experienced players like Devin Neal, Lucas Grimm, Lawrence Arnold, Jared Casey, and others have used up their eligibility. There will be more positional battles once practice begins and the depth chart remains clouded by speculation.
Where did Athlon Sports rank this Kansas football team in the Big 12 for 2025?
ESPN had Kansas football listed fourth in their initial preseason Big 12 rankings, but Athlon had them more in the middle of the pack, at eighth. The ESPN College Football Power Index initially had KU ranked fourth, but now the Jayhawks have fallen one spot.
Texas Tech leaped from seventh to fourth. The projected record for KU remained the same at 7.9-4.3, as did the Red Raiders at 7.9-4.2. Why Tech jumped up several spots in the rankings is unknown.
Athlon and ESPN agree on the top two - Kansas State and Arizona State. ESPN has BYU third. Athlon’s rankings begin to differ from that point, with BYU ranked seventh in their poll. Tech, Iowa State, Baylor, and Utah take up spots three through six.
Athlon notes that both the offensive and defensive coordinators are different this year. That obviously played a part in their decision to have KU so low. The turnover at the offensive skill positions also had to play a role.
Jalon Daniels’ presence is considered, but his injury history and last year’s early-season slump all but balance the luxury of Daniels’ experience and talent.
KU fans hope that ESPN’s computer-generated projections are more accurate than Athlon’s writer, Steve Lassan’s. Of course, all preseason predictions must be taken with a grain of salt. They are talking points more than anything else.
No one could have predicted the brutal, early-season, five-game losing streak Kansas endured. In five of the Jayhawks’ seven losses, they were beaten by five points or less. In one of the others, they led in the fourth quarter. Only in the last game of the season, against Baylor, were they not competitive.
If things had gone differently in a lot of those close games, folks would be looking at this Kansas football team differently. That’s why they play the games.