College basketball programs have a bit of leniency when organizing their non-conference schedules. Most of the nation’s elite schools, however, want constant competition as they know iron sharpens iron.
With the full release of Kansas’ 2026 basketball schedule, we have decided to split the schedule up into three categories.
Underdogs: This will be the games where we expect Kansas to come out as a loser. We know it's only June, but a great archetype of this matchup would be when the Darryn Peterson-less Jayhawks took on Duke last season; it was close till the end, but things ran out of steam and ultimately the better team won.
Coin Flips: The title feels self-explanatory. A great comparison of this would be when the Jayhawks took on St. John’s (sorry for the reminder) in last season’s round of 32 loss in the NCAA Tournament.
Layups: Every coach will tell you there is no such thing as a gimme, but we know that's not always the case. While this tier will have varying qualities of opponents, they all should walk away with losses next to their names.
All recruiting rankings have been pulled by 247Sports.
Layups
Fordham (H), Middle Tennessee State (H), UNLV (N), Denver (H), Northern Iowa (H), Indiana State (H), New Orleans (H), Arizona State (H), Oklahoma State (H), UCF (H), Colorado (H), Utah (A), Kansas State (H&A) and TCU (A)
Arizona State is set to undergo a rebuild under new head coach Randy Bennett, meaning the Jayhawks should be able to handle the Sun Devils down the stretch.
While Steve Lutz and the Cowboys are reeling in an extremely talented freshman class headlined by the nation’s No. 31 player in Latrell Almond and four-star transfer center Julius Halaifonua, the Jayhawks being able to host this matchup bodes well.
UCF was not helped by the departure of 13+ points per game scorer Jordan Burks to Oklahoma State. Last season, the Golden Knights pulled off a shocking conference-opening win against the Jayhawks, but we doubt the same happens this go around.
Last season, without head coach Bill Self and despite the late start, the Jayhawks kept their composure against the Buffaloes and should be an easier stepping stone this season.
The Utes are losing their top three scorers, including power forward Keanu Dawes to the Jayhawks. Last season, Kansas handled Utah relatively easily, and while this season’s iteration will see the Jayhawks play at Jon M. Huntsman Center, losing that much star power and struggling to backfill it often creates trouble for a team like Utah.
The Wildcats are never going to be a game the Jayhawks take lightly; Kansas dominated each matchup last season against Kansas State, and with Casey Alexander taking over for his first season at the helm, KU should be expected favorites.
The Horned Frogs certainly stumbled through this offseason in losing two leaders in power forward David Punch and small forward Liutauras Lelevicius, while Kansas does have to travel down south for this one, this should be a routine win as TCU failed to land many large contributors, barring JUCO guard Trent Lincoln who once held an offer from Self.
Coin Flips
Kentucky (N), Villanova (H), Missouri (N), Ohio State (N), Texas Tech (H), West Virginia (H), Baylor (H&A)
Let's start this off with what should be a fun matchup against Mark Pope; both teams have had highs and lows this offseason; it will be interesting to see how big of an impact the nation’s No. 1 recruit and No. 1 storyline, Tyran Stokes, will have on this, as he will be suiting up for KU after a heated recruiting battle.
Villanova is getting things on the right track after a good first season under head coach Kevin Willard. Losing a talent like Acaden Lewis, however, means Villanova lost out on one of the nation’s best guards. With this game coming so early into the season, along with being at Allen Fieldhouse, it should result in a well-fought KU win.
Does Missouri teter on a potential layup? Maybe, but there is something worth the work that Dennis Gates has done, and the fact that this is at a neutral site doesn’t give either team a real home crowd advantage, which probably means this is a coin flip.
Just like the Tigers, the Buckeyes pose an interesting situation; it's nowhere near unfathomable that Kansas’ CBS Sports Classic goes awry and a No. 16 Torvik-projected Ohio State side pushes past the Jayhawks.
If it wasn’t for Peterson taking over against Grant McCasland’s squad last season, KU could have easily added another loss to their record, but with next season’s affair taking place at home, and a lot of questions over a team that has to seamlessly replace Christian Anderson Jr, KU should have the edge.
Mountaineer coach Ross Hodge is quickly rising the ranks as one of the nation’s best coaches. To go 21-14 with a ravaged team from the year prior (which included a win against Kansas) is no easy feat. Last year’s game saw an unrealistic 48% from the field and 86 points from WVU; it would be a shock if they could do something near that again, but could definitely still keep it close.
It’s hard to replace the likes of a departing Tounde Yessoufou, but by bringing in five-star freshman guard Dylan Mingo and his brother, four-star combo guard Kayden Mingo, Scott Drew has done a great job neutralizing Yessoufou’s departure. But with Drew undergoing his first .500-or-worse year since 2006-07, the 2026-27 season may be a continued slide or a resurgent one; only time will tell.
Last season, when the Cincinnati Bearcats traveled on a chilly Saturday in late February, no one thought that day would expose one of Kansas’ biggest Achilles' heels in their post defense. After Baba Miller and Moustapha Thiam dismantled the Jayhawks, KU’s defense struggled to recover its form. Now Cincy has Jerrod Calhoun, who has things rolling in his first offseason, and will be pinning Kansas as a potential scalp in his first year.
Underdogs
UConn (A), BYU (A), Arizona (A), Houston (A), Iowa State (H&A)
Going up against Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies will always promise a spectacle; last season, through some bizarre sequences, the Huskies made it to their third NCAA National Title game under Hurley. The Huskies will be reeling in two top-50 recruits along with Duke transfer
Nikolas Khamenia. When these two sides met last season inside the Fieldhouse, a tight-knit 61-56 loss made the game truly feel like every bucket mattered, and while Hurley’s team may not look as strong as previous iterations, you would be a fool to think they won’t be expecting to come out on top of the Jayhawks.
Maybe we are just scarred from that blowout loss to the BYU Cougars the last time Kansas made the trip to Provo, but a 91-57 loss will stick with you. BYU will be bringing in the nation’s No. 6 overall recruit in Bryan Branch III, along with Collin Chandler, a Kentucky transfer who averaged around 10 points per game for UK last season.
Fans will continue to keep a watchful eye on Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd. Lloyd is one of the nation’s most prominent coaches and with speculation around how much longer Self will be at the helm, Lloyd will always be tipped as a contender for the job, no matter how much he or Arizona denies it.
According to Torvik, Arizona is the nation’s No. 5 team heading into this season and having to travel to take on the Wildcats adds another layer of complexity.
With Kelvin Sampson and Houston, you know you are going to face the nation’s best defense. The way to know that Houston will be in fine form when Kansas travels to face them is that Sampson and Co. haven’t lost more than 8 games since the 2016-17 campaign.
The only reprieve you get when facing Iowa State is that it is a home-and-home series, meaning the Jayhawks can probably take a game at home. Last season, despite starting the underdog, KU stomped the Cyclones at home, and inversely, stomped away from home when the two sides met later in the season.
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