Initial thoughts on the 2023 Kansas football schedule
After weeks, if not months, of waiting, the Big 12 u this past week, ending speculation for which programs will face the deserters and which ones will face the newcomers in the first year of the league's 14-team era.
The 2023 season will be the Big 12's first featuring the BYU Cougars, Cincinnati Bearcats, Houston Cougars and UCF Knights. It will also be either the last or second-to-last season with the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns as members of the conference, setting up a new, fun group of opponents and road trips for most league mates.
As far as the Kansas Jayhawks are concerned, next season will feature a hearty mixture of both old and new, not to mention an intriguing nonconference slate. Let's take a look at some of the more notable parts of the 2023 KU football schedule.
SEC You One More Time
Only 4 teams in the Big 12 will play both Oklahoma and Texas in 2023, and Kansas is one of them. The downside of having both on the schedule is that despite one's letdown 2022 campaign and the other's consistent disappointments over the last decade, they're still two of the toughest matchups in the conference. The bright side, however, is a chance to take advantage of an OU squad that's still working through things with its new coach and to add another edition of one of college football's favorite memes.
Three's Company
The Jayhawks will face three of the four conference newcomers this year with two of those matchups coming at home. Kansas will open Big 12 play at home against BYU on Sept. 23, followed by a home tilt with UCF two weeks later. The lone new road trip for the Jayhawks will also be their season finale when they visit Cincinnati on Nov. 25. It's unfortunate, and also ridiculous, that KU won't play the Kansas State Wildcats in what's traditionally Rivalry Week for college football, but a chance to see the third-oldest stadium in the FBS is a reasonable consolation.
A Much-Needed Week Off
KU's 2023 bye week will come just past the halfway point of the season, which means it will come at a perfect time to get some rest in before a brutal stretch of the schedule. Kansas will be off on Oct. 21, Week 8, right before the following five games to end the regular season: Oklahoma, at Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas State, at Cincinnati. Four of those five teams played in bowl games last season and it also includes the reigning Big 12 champions. Getting a week to rest and recover before that stretch could be crucial.
Maybe Next Time
With all this talk about who the Jayhawks are facing this season, it's important we also acknowledge who they won't match up with this time around. Houston, obviously, is the only newcomer who won't face Kansas this year. As for the Big 12 mainstays, KU is dodging the Baylor Bears, TCU Horned Frogs and West Virginia Mountaineers.
Thursday Night Live
The only part of the schedule we already knew was the nonconference segment, which will be more linear in '23 than it was in '22 for Kansas. All three nonconference games this season will be played in the first three weeks of the campaign. The most important development for those games is when the season opener will kick off. Kansas will host the Missouri State Bears on Thursday, Aug. 31 after two straight years of Friday night season openers. High school football fans in the Sunflower State, rejoice. In Week 2, KU will play the first game of a home-and-home (at home) against the Illinois Fighting Illini, then the Jayhawks will hit the road for the first time on Sept. 16 against the Nevada Wolf Pack. Illinois will be a tough matchup (though a thrilling one if you love running the ball), but KU undoubtedly has a legitimate shot to go undefeated in nonconference play for the second year in a row.
Let the record projections and potential bowl game travel planning commence.
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