Analyst Lists Kansas Football's Big 12 Slate Third-Easiest in Conference

Coming off a disappointing 2024 season, Lance Leipold and the Kansas Jayhawks need every advantage they can get heading into a critical campaign.

Luckily for KU, longtime college football analyst Phil Steele believes the schedule might just be in its favor.

In his annual rankings, Steele listed Kansas’ 2025 Big 12 schedule as the third-easiest in the conference, No. 14 out of the league's 16 teams and No. 59 nationally.

"There’s also room to get excited about this schedule if you’re Kansas," Steele wrote. "In non-conference play, there’s going to be a road trip to Missouri that could end up being very interesting. After that, they’ll get into Big 12 play. There, Kansas State and Texas Tech are going to be among the highlights."

That is certainly an encouraging sign for a team that stumbled to a 5-7 finish and missed bowl eligibility last fall.

The Jayhawks open the year with nonconference matchups against Fresno State, Wagner, and rival Missouri.

They then begin a nine-game Big 12 gauntlet, though KU caught a break with five home games and four on the road.

The home schedule features contests against West Virginia, Cincinnati, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and Utah. Meanwhile, the road trips include UCF, Texas Tech, Arizona, and Iowa State.

More importantly, KU avoided some of the league’s top projected teams, not playing Arizona State, BYU, TCU, or Baylor. Going by ESPN’s FPI system, four of the top five Big 12 teams will not appear on the Jayhawks' schedule.

Having the Sunflower Showdown in Lawrence is important too, with the Wildcats coming to the renovated David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium for the first time as KU looks to end a 16-game losing skid to K-State.

If Kansas can stay healthy and improve its late-game execution, the manageable schedule gives Leipold’s squad a legitimate shot at competing for a Big 12 title.