Lance Leipold and the Kansas Jayhawks are coming off back-to-back 5-7 seasons.
By no means is Leipold nearing the hot seat, but getting to a bowl game this season feels pivotal. It would mean that in Leipold’s six seasons at the helm, there would have been three different bowls. A stellar turnaround from where they were prior to his arrival.
However, this iteration of the Kansas Jayhawks has several new folds than the previous one. Firstly, KU will be reeling in 30 new transfers and 19 freshmen. Secondly, this will be the first season under Leipold where there will be no Jalon Daniels, and lastly, their schedule is anything but a gimme.
Now, on quality alone, sure things could have been worse for KU, but with the dynamics of where and when they have to play, you would be hard-pressed to find many more challenging schedules.
On the Jayhawk Slant podcast “Inside Slant,” college football analyst Phil Steele spoke on Kansas’ upcoming schedule.
“I have never seen a schedule as slanted as Kansas is this year. They only have three Big 12 home games and they have 6 away from home. And one of them is in London for crying out loud,” quoted Steele.
Kansas’ schedule remains one of the most difficult possible
Below is Kansas’ calendar, laid out game by game.
Long Island University (H) September 4
Missouri (H) September 11
Arizona State (N) September 19, Union Jack Classic
Middle Tennessee (H) October 4
Utah (A), October 10
Kansas State (A), October 17
Baylor (H), October 24
TCU (A) October 31
UCF (H) November 7
WVU (A) November 14
BYU (H) November 21
Oklahoma State (A) November 28
With Kansas’ season seeing them take a trip overseas, their schedule has been completely chopped and changed. It wouldn’t have been wrong to think that Kansas’ Union Jack Classic would have ended up being slotted as a week zero matchup, but with that game coming in week three, it makes a bye week pivotal in week four.
Since the Jayhawks’ week four is now open, this means KU will be running through its last nine games in a row.
As Steele mentioned, Kansas will only be taking part in three true conference home games against Baylor, UCF and BYU. Just for reference, the Utes will be taking on four Big 12 teams at home and seven home games.
While Steele didn’t make note of this, it is worth mentioning that Leipold and his team will be playing five of their last eight games away from home.
If there are any pros of this outlook, it is that the Jayhawks will be able to play host against the Missouri Tigers and BYU at home.
Last season, the Jayhawks narrowly fell to the Tigers thanks to a lackluster rushing defense, which allowed Missouri to ice the game at 42-31 inside Memorial Stadium.
While KU holds an undefeated 3-0 record against BYU, there is growing belief that this is Kalani Sitake’s best team yet, meaning any advantage KU can get is noteworthy.
More Kansas Football News
Add us as a preferred source on Google