In nearly 20 days, the Kansas Jayhawks will be taking part in their annual “Late Night in the Phog” against Pittsburg State. What follows that highly anticipated event will be exhibitions against Louisville and Duke before Kansas welcomes Fordham to Allen Fieldhouse to tip off Kansas’ 2026-27 season.
This regular season will see the Jayhawks take part in 16 home games, 10 away games, and as of right now, four neutral-site games, with the possibility of more if Kansas does well in the Players Era 8.
Today’s task is to rank each of Kansas’ neutral-site matchups in order from hardest to easiest. Obviously, this will be leaving out the Players Era 8, as there is a lot of possibilities for that tournament.
No. 4 UNLV (Nov.17)
Kicking off Kansas’ Players Era run will be the Runnin’ Rebels. The Mountain West side is led by former ACC Champion Josh Pastner. Pastner started his head coaching career with the Memphis Tigers. At Memphis, Pastner quickly rose up the ranks, totaling a 167-73 record before joining Georgia Tech. While Pastner finished with a 109-114 record with the Yellow Jackets, winning the 2020-21 ACC conference tournament title was a highlight that has frankly been a little underrated.
Pastner left GT following the 2022-23 season before joining UNLV ahead of last season. In year one, Pastner totaled an 18-17 record.
If all goes to plan, UNLV would have reeled in nine transfers this offseason, but things are at a standstill with AJ Storr. Yes, the former Jayhawk AJ Storr. As of now, Storr is ineligible, but these eligibility cases can be flipped on a minute's notice. Storr is still listed on the UNLV roster as of publication, so that could create a fun reunion.
No. 3 Missouri (December 6th)
This Border Showdown has an extra bit of bite added to it, seeing as Bryson Tiller, a former Kansas Jayhawk, will be suiting up for the archrival. Dennis Gates is reeling in an impressive recruiting class once again, headlined by the nation’s No. 5 freshman, Jason Crowe Jr. Gates has also reeled in the No. 24 player in Toni Bryant and the No. 87 player in Aidan Chronister.
With this being the last scheduled matchup between the two, both sides will feel it is imperative to come out on top.
No. 2 Ohio State (December 19th)
If you wanted to switch Mizzou and the Buckeyes, you won’t hear much complaining over here. The Buckeyes are losing three of their top scorers from last season, which is a worry if you are an Ohio State fan; what helps chip away at that worry is that Anthony Thompson, the No. 7 player in the class of 2026 is joining the ranks. Thompson will be the lifeline for this roster and transfer forward Will Pippen will also play a key part in this team lead by Jake Diebler. Diebler holds a 46-31 record and will be entering his third full season as Ohio State head coach. His 2025-26 season ended with an NCAA Tournament appearance.
No. 1 Kentucky (November 10th)
There really was no other option.
The battle for Tyran Stokes amped up the intensity of this matchup by a million when the No. 1 player in the class of 2026 joined the Jayhawks. An intriguing aspect to watch out for will be how Milan Momcilovic does. Momcilovic tallied 18 points in the second meeting of KU vs. Iowa State last season. If the Jayhawks can neutralize him and force others to score, that could go a long way in deciding this one.
More Kansas Basketball News
Add us as a preferred source on Google