Kansas vs. West Virginia Betting Lines Shift Ahead of Big 12 Opener

Kansas football is heavily favored this weekend against West Virginia in both schools’ Big 12 openers.

West Virginia is looking to stay hot after defeating Pitt in the Backyard Brawl in overtime, while the Jayhawks are well-rested from their bye week and hope to rebound following their respective rivalry loss to Missouri.

Although WVU looked far more encouraging than it did in the first couple of weeks, KU still obtained most of the analyst picks to kick off the week. After opening as 10.5-point favorites, the spread has climbed to nearly two touchdowns, with KU sitting as a 13.5-point favorite as of Sept. 16 on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Kansas vs. WVU Betting Lines Shift

There could be a number of reasons for the line movement. Perhaps too many bigwigs in Las Vegas were hammering the initial 10.5-point spread, or sportsbooks realized it was too small a margin for a Kansas squad with an explosive offense.

Regardless, it is certainly encouraging for Jayhawk fans that bettors are siding with KU early on.

Despite the Border Showdown loss, there is still plenty of reason for optimism moving forward in the 2025 season. KU opened the year with back-to-back victories over Fresno State and Wagner, led by strong performances from quarterback Jalon Daniels and a stifling defense.

That wasn’t quite the case in Columbia, but the Jayhawks are no longer facing an SEC opponent. Instead, they’ll open conference play with three consecutive games in which they will likely be favored by at least a touchdown.

Meanwhile, WVU has Rich Rodriguez back at the helm nearly 20 years after his first stint in Morgantown. He lost an unbelievable 51 players to the transfer portal this offseason, leaving him with a major rebuild on his hands.

UTSA transfer Jimmori Ribinson will make his West Virginia debut this week, and the offense seems to have found its new running back in Tye Edwards after he rushed for 141 yards and three scores a game ago.

But no matter how impressive the Mountaineers looked in their win over Pitt, this Kansas roster is talented enough to compete near the top of the Big 12, let alone a lower-tier school like WVU.

As the betting lines suggest, the Jayhawks are expected to leave David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium with a win this Saturday.

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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