To say that West Virginia hasn’t been a thorn in the side of the Kansas Jayhawks over the past few years would be wrong.
Fans will always have those games that are posted in the “most heartbreaking games ever” tab, and to see Jayhawk fans quite possibly have three out of the last five games be thrown in can make for quite a history.
On Monday, during head coach Lance Leipold’s press conference, the fifth-year head coach spoke on his own history with the Mountaineers.
“It's been close games, overtime games, even as I think that was our last game in 21. If I remember correctly, you know, and that was, as we were starting to make, a noticeable improvement on the field.”
Leipold continued, “So again, you hope it's one of those things that, personnel-wise, it'll be a balanced matchup, that you've got to go out and play well. But again, to open up conference at home and have a chance to play against a team like this is exciting, and I think our guys understand that we need to play at our best to have a chance to win and get this conference season kicked off the right way.”
Since Leipold took over the Jayhawks, the former Buffalo coach has taken on West Virginia three times, where he has posted a 1-2 record, with results being that aforementioned 34-28 Kansas loss, a 55-42 Kansas win, and last season another narrow 34-28 loss.
If Kansas were to take down West Virginia this weekend, then it may look just like a routine conference win to outsiders, but as 2021 symbolized to Leipold that Kansas was going somewhere under him, then 2025 could mean that Kansas is in its best place since Leipold joined the program.
If the Jayhawks were able to take down the Mountaineers, it would also serve as a reflection point, as Kansas is still fresh off its 42-31 Border Showdown loss to Missouri.
As it stands, BetMGM has Kansas as a 13.5-point favorite, and with the game at home for Kansas, a previous stumble for the Jayhawks could be turned into a propellant for Kansas' success this season. Kickoff takes place this Saturday at 5 PM CT.