The Disastrous Consequences of Kansas Football Missing a Bowl Game This Year

With just two games remaining in the 2025 season, the Kansas Jayhawks find themselves in danger of missing postseason play for the second year in a row.

Sitting at 5-5 on the year (3-4 in Big 12), KU will have to find a way to steal at least one win against Iowa State this weekend in Ames or at home against No. 12 ranked Utah next week to reach bowl eligibility.

The Jayhawks are 3.5-point underdogs to the Cyclones on Saturday and will likely be at least a touchdown underdog to the Utes next Friday in Lawrence – making it a tough task to get that important sixth win.

If they don’t, that could spell trouble for the program moving forward.

Kansas Recruiting

As of today, Kansas owns the No. 46 ranked recruiting class in college football for 2026, according to On3.com. The class features 19 high school prospects from across the country who have given verbal commitments to play for head coach Lance Leipold and KU, with the chance to put that commitment to paper Dec. 3-5 during the NCAA early signing period.

The class is especially strong among Kansas natives where KU owns verbal commitments from six of the top 15 ranked players in the Sunflower State – including four-star offensive lineman Kaden Snyder, three-star defensive end Hunter Higgins, and others.

But if KU fails to reach a bowl game again this year, these recruits may start to rethink their commitments and decide to play somewhere else – which could hurt KU’s chances of improving next season.

We’ve seen one decommitment already with the No. 2-ranked player in the state, James (JJ) Dunnigan Jr., who was previously committed to Kansas but then rescinded his commitment after the Jayhawks’ disappointing loss to Kansas State in October. He’s now committed to play for the Miami Hurricanes next year.

These recruits are the building blocks for the future, and reaching a bowl game could help retain their commitments through signing day.

Fan support

If KU fails to reach a bowl game this year, it's tough to keep the enthusiasm going after what was supposed to be a big year.

Fans, alumni, boosters, and donors alike have given plenty of money these past few years to help keep Leipold in Lawrence, build the new football stadium, provide new facilities, and buy tickets (which sharply increased this year) to support this team – and they’ve not gotten much in return these past two seasons.

Another missed bowl game could cause fans to rethink their support and discourage them from buying season tickets for next year and/or contributing to the second phase of the Gateway District project to finish rebuilding the east side of the stadium and the surrounding features.

KU needs fans to fully buy in if they want to keep building and take the next step as a program.