90 Days Until Kansas Football: Way Too Early Predictions - Non-conference Schedule
We still have 3 months to go before Kansas Football kicks off the season against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, which means that there is plenty of time for things to change. But that also means it's the perfect time to make predictions that are likely missing critical information or will be wildly inaccurate long before we actually get to the game.
But of course that's the majority of the fun.
For these predictions, we will be looking at ESPN's FPI Rankings. For reference, the Kansas Jayhawks rank 97th coming into this season, while they ended last season ranked 114th.
We'll start this series by looking at the non-conference schedule. Then later in the countdown, we'll come back and look at the conference games.
vs Tennessee Tech (FCS)
The Jayhawks have a habit of playing FCS teams that have a good chance to end the season ranked better than them. That included last season, when South Dakota ended 2021 ranked 117th in the Sagarin ratings, while Kansas finished 136th.
This season won't be the same. The Golden Eagles ended last season ranked 231st in Sagarin, and from what I can tell aren't expected to take a huge leap forward. They finished 3-8 last season, and haven't had a winning season since 2011, when they finished 7-4.
Kansas has a habit of making these games a lot closer than they should be, but this feels like the year where they finally change that. The offense should be able to build off of what we saw to end last year, and the defense should be able to make big plays early.
Prediction: Kansas 34, Tennessee Tech 17
at Houston (49)
The FPI actually likes the Cougars a lot less than most other preseason publications I've seen, many of which think that Houston could win the American this year.
Houston had some big losses from last season, but reloaded pretty well in the transfer portal to gear up for what is likely their last season in the AAC, but a big injury to starting RB Alton McCaskill during spring practices could cause some issues for them.
That being said, this is the third game of the season, so I expect Dana Holgorsen and staff to be able to figure out what they need to do instead. And winning this game down in Houston is probably too much to ask. Kansas has gotten some big upsets on the road in the past (i.e. Boston College), but I can't see them getting this one.
Prediction: Houston 42, Kansas 24
vs Duke (102)
The Jayhawks are one of the lowest rated P5 teams in the FPI, but Duke and Vanderbilt (103) keep the Jayhawks from earning that distinction themselves.
Yes, Duke won last year's game 52-33 in Durham. But they lost a lot from last season and have a brand new coach, plus open competition in a lot of positions.
The offense was hit especially hard, with both the QB and RB positions open. And the defense wasn't great last year, and doesn't seem to have added anyone of note to shore it up significantly.
This feels like the game where we really get to see what this offense can do. Jalon Daniels should get going quickly, and Lawrence Arnold and Jared Casey should see a lot of throws headed their way. I don't know how Duke will handle the combination of Devin Neal, Ky Thomas and Sevion Morrison. The only open question is how well the defense is able to exert their will.
Prediction: Kansas 45, Duke 21
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