College Basketball Analyst Wary of Kansas for 2025-26 Season

The Kansas Jayhawks are one of the most polarizing teams entering the 2025-26 college basketball season.

After back-to-back seasons where they opened as the preseason No. 1 and came up short, belief in Bill Self's squad has started to waver.

KU will look much different this year, with a roster headlined by 5-star freshman Darryn Peterson. Self has already said he believes Peterson could become the best one-and-done player in program history.

Still, during a recent episode of the Field of 68 podcast, concerns about the team resurfaced from host Jeff Goodman, who was quick to question how far this version of Kansas can actually go.

"I don’t think they have the horses around Peterson to reel off six straight games and be a national champ," host Jeff Goodman said.

"This is a team that I think will be more consistent this year," Goodman added. "I think they’ll take a step forward from last year, which was mediocrity by Kansas standards, it was a down year. I think they will get back and finish third or fourth in the Big 12 this year."

Former Wake Forest star Randolph Childress was a bit more optimistic about what the group might become, praising the style of play the Jayhawks are expected to embrace this season.

"The thing is, I think their style of play is going to look different," former Childress said. "It's going to be up and down, they're going to be able to get after you on the defensive end of the floor, so it'll look different in Kansas this year — but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing."

Childress sees the added athleticism and defensive energy as a major positive for the new-look roster. However, he made it clear that the Jayhawks will need contributions from more than just their star freshman.

"Darryn Peterson is going to be incredible, we know what he's going to be. But I just ask from the rest of those wings, can they collectively buy in and knock down enough shots to create enough opportunities?" Childress asked. "If they can do that by power in numbers, I think Kansas will be fine."

Childress agreed that shooting will be an issue at times, but thinks the defense and tempo will help offset it.

Ultimately, how the returning players develop and how the new transfers settle in will determine Kansas' ceiling.