ESPN is beginning their annual conference preview where their staff breaks down each conference thanks to a number of stats and team reviews and throws certain teams under a moniker.
For example, this year, under the "Conference title (and, therefore, CFP) contenders list," fall Kansas State, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Brigham Young University, Utah, Iowa State, Texas Christian University, and Baylor.
The next maybe less glamorous heading were for teams labeled "A couple of breaks away from a run."
In that list saw every other team in the Big 12 but one stood out at the very top, Kansas.
According to ESPN's Bill Connelly this was his interpretation of Lance Leipold's squad
"Here's a surefire way to ruin your social media mentions for a few days: Compare someone to Bill Snyder. In last year's Big 12 preview, I noted that (a) in the years before Lance Leipold arrived, Kansas' general football awfulness rivaled that of Kansas State's in the pre-Snyder 1980s, and (b) in his first three years on the job, Leipold had actually engineered a better product. I also mentioned that no one can duplicate what Snyder did long term, but the damage was done. My mentions were a trash fire for days.
"I must have jinxed Leipold in the process. His 2024 Jayhawks, playing their home games outside of Lawrence while Memorial Stadium was undergoing renovations, slipped from 25th to 50th in SP+ and, with help from a run of close losses (1-5 in one-score games), fell from 9-4 to 5-7."
Connelly furthered his analysis with a quick squad overview.
"Quarterback Jalon Daniels somehow still has eligibility left and will get a chance to add to his 6,751 career passing yards and 1,401 career rushing yards. He'll have his third coordinator in as many years, but it's a familiar name in longtime QBs coach Jim Zebrowski. That's not all the change, though. Only two other offensive starters return (all-conference center Bryce Foster and guard Kobe Baynes), and Daniels will be surrounded by transfers -- running back Leshon Williams (Iowa), five new pass catchers including Ball State's Cam Pickett, two big-play FCS guys (Columbia's Bryson Canty and Albany's Levi Wentz), a former blue-chipper in Alabama's Emmanuel Henderson Jr. and five new linemen.
"On defense, new coordinator D.K. McDonald inherits a unit facing even more change. Of the 15 defenders with 200-plus snaps, only five return, and four are linemen. (End Dean Miller and tackles D.J. Withers and Tommy Dunn Jr. are excellent.) The back seven will be led almost entirely by transfers; that includes a dynamite pair of linebackers in Trey Lathan (West Virginia) and Joseph Sipp Jr. (Bowling Green), but the incoming DBs are less proven. Nickel Syeed Gibbs (Georgia Tech) looks disruptive, but the pass defense could continue to be a liability."
Is their real reason for Kansas to be propped towards the top of that list?
Well, look no further than the first question former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy asked Leipold during the Big 12 Media Days.
"It's amazing. Last year, when you watched, there were so many moments where if a ball bounces this way, it's a different animal. It's this way, that way. It was like it was just unlucky. I don't really know how else to describe it. I hate to call it that, but how much have y'all focused on the margins this year to make sure those things fall in your direction this year?"
Leipold who sat on the far right end of the ESPN panel stated. "Well, you're right, Greg, and we talk and you guys know from playing and everything that, you know, most games are decided between three to five plays when you really break it down. And there's it's such a small difference. And last year in the first half of the season, they did not go our way. "
Leipold furthered his long response
"And then we talk about it all the time. You just don't know when those three to five plays were. Ours just happened to be late in ball games where we couldn't get a stop. We turned the ball over. Something happened. But, uh, we stuck together. We persevered through it, and we found a way to finish strong in the season. I'm really proud of that, and we're going to, you know, again in camp, keep talking situational football and making sure we're at our best when our best is needed."