Big 12 · Lance Leipold, year 6 (28-37) · Memorial Stadium · 47,000 · 31,452 avg in 2026
LastL 17–24 vs Arizona State · Sat Sep 19 · Leroy Harris III 1 sacks, 2 TFL, 7 tackles
Nextvs Middle Tennessee · Sat Oct 3 · time TBA · Memorial Stadium · first meeting on record
Updated Tue Sep 22 · through week 3
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 5 | #87 | #178 | -44.5✓ | Long Island University | W 51–6 129 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #85 | #42 | +4✗ | Missouri | L 21–38 138 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #78 | #46 | +5.5✗ | Arizona State (N) | L 17–24 140 | 1-2 | 0-1 |
| 5 | Oct 3 | #82 | #126 | Middle Tennessee | ||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | @Utah | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | @Kansas State | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 24 | Baylor | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | @TCU | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | UCF | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | @West Virginia | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | BYU | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | @Oklahoma State |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 19 | Arizona State | L 17–24 | 414 | 3 | 29:18 | +0.140 | 41.3% | 138.8% | Best defensive stand |
| Sep 12 | Missouri | L 21–38 | 255 | 3 | 28:39 | -0.129 | 29.9% | 179.1% | Season-low EPA/play |
| Sep 5 | Long Island University | W 51–6 | 613 | 1 | 33:06 | +0.569 | 59.0% | 129.9% | Season-high EPA/play |
| Season average (3 games) | 427 | 2.3 | +0.193 | 43.4% | 149.3% | ||||
Game Week
11 days
until kickoff · vs Middle Tennessee · Sat Oct 3 · time TBA
Kansas is a basketball cathedral that, for a few Jalon Daniels seasons, made football matter in Lawrence — every win a bonus on top of a banner-filled gym that never needed the gridiron at all.
Fans are tired of being told their school only cares from November to March — that football is a hobby in a basketball town. They point at the Orange Bowl banner and the Leipold revival and ask to…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 5-7 · last season
✓ measured from 12 games · ranks are among Big 12 teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Cold. 3-7 over the last 10, and lost the last two.
I haven’t seen, since I’ve been here, a safety with that type of range that he showed on the one he barely dropped
Next Oct 3
vs Middle Tennessee · at home
✓ fact on line · ~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-22
the open questionwhere does it go from here?
Kansas enters 2025 at No. 58 in SP+ — the 8-spot drop from 2024 puts Leipold’s progress under the microscope after back-to-back losing records.
our readbackground
Boden Groen is used almost exclusively underneath -- a low share of his targets are downfield shots.
our readbackground
Emmanuel Henderson Jr. is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks.
our readbackground
Leshon Williams gets LESS work in the fourth quarter with a lead than his overall workload would predict -- not the trusted closer raw carries might suggest.
our readbackground
Leshon Williams: a garbage time merchant signal screened this season.
our readbackground
Outcome band · Kansas · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
Kansas enters 2025 rated No. 58 in SP+ (+4.1), down 8 spots from 2024. SP+ describes what the program HAS done, not what it will do. The season is the field test. Preview coverage is split — believers and skeptics are reading the same data differently.
The 'the projection is underselling us' read -- fans betting the season beats the preview number.
The 'the model has seen the tape' counter -- efficiency ratings reward what a program has actually done, not hope.
This event was in 289 of 2463 board posts (12%) over the last 60 days — a fanbase consumed by it. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
Board health this week (534 posts): 16% positive · 31% neutral · 53% negative. Team-level weekly mood — not specific to this event. The boards ≠ the fanbase: a self-selected vocal slice.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
Kansas is the basketball school whose Lance Leipold rebuild from 1-11 to bowl games + Jalon Daniels Heisman buzz reset what historic-football-disappointment can become.
Melvin Council Jr. sues NCAA for extra year
Council lost two EDGE contributors to the draft and ranks 61st in class — a lawsuit buying one more year at that spot isn't a minor procedural move, it's Leipold's most realistic fix for a position the depth chart can't paper over.
Kansas releases first depth chart
Depth chart drops with two EDGE contributors already gone and a class ranked 61st nationally — Leipold's pressure-spot rebuild gets its first real stress test before LIU even kicks off.
2 Jayhawks ruled out for game
Two more Jayhawks out for the Union Jack Classic — a roster already thin at EDGE after two NFL Draft departures can't afford the injury math stacking up this fast.
Drinkwitz criticizes KU hype video
Drinkwitz picking a public fight with Kansas over a hype video is the kind of distraction that lands differently when your own program is the one with SP+ concerns and a #61 class trying to replace two drafted EDGEs.
Javon Bardwell decommits from Kansas
Two EDGE contributors already gone and a #61 class behind them — Bardwell walking back his commitment is the last thing Leipold needed at a position already running thin.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
KS leads the 2026 class with 7 commits. National footprint reaching 8 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
67 signees across 15 states, 2023-2026. KS leads the pull.
That is 14.0% of every high-school FBS signee KS produced over those cycles — second only to Kansas State, 11 signees back. The full map →
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Kansas player grew up 448 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Memorial Stadium. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 111 of 115 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
Fan confidence in a typical range for this program right now
39th percentile among FBS programs
33% recovery rate on the fumbles they've forced — below the ~48% league baseline.
2 of 6 forced fumbles recovered; 4 of 8 own fumbles recovered themselves, 2026 only.
0% of tipped/broken-up passes have turned into picks — below the ~19% league average, and due for more.
0 interceptions of 11 disrupted passes (11 deflected, 0 intercepted), 2026 only.
21 penalties committed, 20 drawn on opponents — a near-even trade all season.
189 penalty yards committed vs. 181 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Kansas · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026