The 2023 KU Fan Emotion Meter – 11 Days Until Kansas Football

The offseason for the Kansas Jayhawks has featured a ton of talk about expectations and outcomes for the upcoming 2023 season. And rightly so. Last year, KU fielded a team that was competitive and bowl-worthy for the first time in 14 years.

And the Jayhawks did so ahead of schedule. Most expected three to four wins and increased competitiveness. This has only amplified the questions of whether a regression will take place or if Lance Leipold is operating a rocketship. So much has been trying to quantify the season from the team perspective, naturally. But that’s not what we’re doing here. This is about the fan perspective.

What are the range of emotions possible for this year and what are the events that would cause them? This is the 2023 Kansas Football Emotion Meter.

Devastation

How it happens: Now that the Jayhawks are trending more toward the hunted than the hunter, the regression takes place. The schedule is daunting, facing both a strong team in Illinois in the non-conference and the preseason's top teams in Texas, K-State, and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, the defense doesn’t show the improvement it needed. Kansas not only misses a bowl game, it falls back into the four-win territory.

Outcome: Fans aren’t ready to jump ship completely, but this one hurts, bad. There’s more and more rumbling that this was a one-hit wonder and KU still has a large mountain to climb.

Heartache

How it happens: Kansas barely misses its expectations, but not purely because of a lack of execution. The offense suffers more debilitating injuries to key skill players and luck – whether in the turnover battle or bad bounces in key plays – doesn’t go the Jayhawks’ way in several big games. Outside factors don’t let the Jayhawks, or their fans, take full advantage of the talent on the roster.

Outcome: Fans are distraught by what could have been and spend the next six months playing “what if” games on social media while still wholeheartedly believing that if one or two things went differently, this team would have been bowling.

Contentedness

How it happens: The competitiveness the Jayhawks possessed last year remains, KU earns six more wins, and it’s another bowl appearance in late December. The offense continues to soar and Kansas teases with the AP Top-25 poll during a particularly hot roll.

Outcomes: KU proves last-year’s results were no fluke, and in a time where relevance and positive momentum are critical to recruiting and fundraising, the Jayhawks give enough for fans and donors to be happy about to keep the train moving forward on the tracks.

Joy

How it happens: Kansas takes the next step in its journey to football greatness. Health is more fortunate for the Jayhawks than it was a year ago and another year in Leipold’s system proves to be what the team needs to get even better. KU reaches eight wins, is ranked for a time once again, and finds itself in the top half of the conference.

Outcomes: An enthusiasm Kansas hasn’t experienced within football in years emerges in full force. The only rain on Jayhawk nation’s parade is the fear that another program is going to poach him, but the work of Travis Goff and the athletics department keeps fans optimistic.

Elation

How it happens: Leipold and the Jayhawks again exceed expectations by an amount further than fans could have imagined and climb to new heights. Along with another hot start, KU’s best players play up to their best. The schedule falls just right and the Jayhawks are able to secure key wins against teams like Oklahoma and Kansas State. KU flirts with double-digit wins and is a serious contender for a Big 12 title. Buzz around the program couldn’t be higher.

Outcomes: Social channels and message boards are filled with speculations and questions about where within the new gateway project the Lance Leipold statue will stand.