Kansas Football's Big 12 Championship Odds Plummet After Loss to Cincinnati

Heading into Saturday’s game against Cincinnati, the Kansas Jayhawks had the sixth best odds of winning the Big 12 Conference (+1200 according to FanDuel Sportsbook) with a 3-1 record. Their only loss was to a non-conference opponent – albeit a tough one to rival Missouri – and they were coming off of an impressive, commanding win over West Virginia.

However, KU’s Big 12 title odds took a sharp downturn following their disappointing 37-34 home loss to the Bearcats. KU now sits at +3300 to win the conference, which is 10th best among all Big 12 teams.

The loss puts the Jayhawks at 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 play heading into a big road game at UCF this Saturday in Orlando, Florida. The Golden Knights are coming off a 34-20 loss to Kansas State in Manhattan and sit at 3-1 overall (0-1 in Big 12 play).

Iowa State and Arizona State currently sit atop the Big 12 standings with a 2-0 conference record, followed by BYU, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, and Houston who own 1-0 Big 12 records. KU is tied with KSU, Utah, and Baylor who are also 1-1, while Arizona, UCF, and TCU sit at 0-1 and Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Colorado are all 0-2.

With just one loss, KU’s chances of winning the Big 12 are not totally erased, but their conference schedule doesn’t get any easier from here.

After the game against UCF, Kansas heads to Lubbock, Texas, to face a top-25 Texas Tech team. The Jayhawks then have a bye week before hosting K-State – who they have not beaten in 16 years.

The Jayhawks have a winnable game the following week at home against Oklahoma State before a duo of tough road matchups at Arizona and Iowa State (No. 14 in the country) and then home against Utah to close out the regular season.

If KU wants to have a chance at reaching the Big 12 Championship game, they can ill-afford to lose more than two games the rest of the way, and that still may not be enough depending on how the undefeated teams fair the remainder of the season.

The Jayhawks will likely have to win all their home games and then not slip up against UCF or Arizona. And in all likelihood, KU would probably need to steal a game against either Tech or Iowa State to own a potential tiebreaker.

The dream of KU’s first-ever Big 12 title is not gone, but the Jayhawks certainly didn’t do themselves any favors by losing a game they should have won against Cincinnati.