The Kansas football team has seven home games and five road matchups this year. Every game carries its own importance, and conference games carry more weight for teams that wish to contend.
Earlier this month, Through the Phog ranked the Jayhawks’ home games, and it’s time to look over those to be played in hostile environs.
These games include four Big 12 games and one very crucial non-conference meeting that renews an old, bitter rivalry.
Which Kansas football road games are most important in 2025?
No. 5: UCF, Oct. 4
KU won’t play its first Big 12 road game until its sixth game of the season. The Jayhawks should know what they can be this deep in the season, but it is one of their longest road trips of the season.
According to Travis Truax of on3.com, Phil Steele (subscription required for Steele's site) listed UCF 14th in the preseason rankings. Despite this matchup being on the road, it’s one in which the Jayhawks need to take care of business. If they have hopes to win the conference, this isn’t a game in which KU can afford to overlook.
No. 4: Arizona, Nov. 8
Much like UCF, this game in the desert combines a long road trip with a game KU should win. Like UCF, Steele has Arizona ranked at the bottom of the conference, at 15th. Kansas must beat the teams they are supposed to, even if they are on the road.
Arizona also feels like a school that might be somewhat under-ranked. It will be interesting to see what the Wildcats’ record is when KU plays them. Regardless, this is a game KU has to win as it continues to establish itself in the new Big 12.
No. 3: Missouri, Sept. 6
It is probably unwise to rank a non-conference game ahead of Big 12 games, but one could argue this is one of the most interesting matchups of the season. It renews a rivalry that has lain dormant for 14 years, ever since Missouri left the Big 12 for the SEC.
While it has no bearing on Kansas’ Big 12 aspirations, there is something about this game that should stir competitive feelings in fans, players, and coaches on both sides. Missouri has its own hopes of winning the SEC, and it would be sweet for KU to go in and make a statement at Missouri!
No. 2: Texas Tech, Oct. 11
Tech will be one of the contenders for the conference title, so this would be a massive win for the Jayhawks if they could pull off this one in Lubbock. Schuyler Callihan of SI.com ranked the Red Raiders fourth, so this game could have conference ramifications.
For Kansas football, these are the types of games the Jayhawks need to not only be competitive, but to win more than they lose if they want to be a perennial contender in the conference.
No. 1: Iowa State, Nov. 22
The Kansas football team will wrap up the season against two schools in the SI.com top three, including the season’s penultimate conference game against second-ranked Iowa State. KU finishes up the season at home against third-ranked Utah.
With two wins against serious league contenders, Kansas could wreak havoc in the conference, ,uch as they did last year with a late-season hot streak. If the Jayhawks win these two games and don’t falter often against schools they should beat. Late wins against the Cyclones and Utes might thrust KU into the conference championship game.
Iowa State has done a great job building its program toward annual respectability. KU wants to emulate that success and surpass it. Winning the last two games could help with that.