Kansas Soccer Advances to Second Consecutive Big 12 Championship

The Kansas women’s soccer team is experiencing a little déjà vu in this year’s Big 12 Tournament.

After playing spoiler last year and winning the Big 12 Tournament title, the Jayhawks have positioned themselves to repeat history this weekend following a pair of back-to-back upset wins.

Ranked as the No. 7 seed heading into this year’s tournament (out of eight Big 12 teams eligible), the Jayhawks (14-4-3) were not expected to make a deep run, but that’s exactly what they’ve done.

KU shut out No. 2 seed West Virginia (13-3-3) by a score of 4-0 in the first round of the tournament on Monday thanks to four different goal scorers. Then on Wednesday, KU upset No. 3 seed Colorado (15-3-3) by a final score of 2-1.

After being down 1-0 most of the first half, redshirt junior forward/midfielder Saige Wimes tied the game up at 1-1 early in the second half before freshman Lydia Viets scored her first goal of her KU career in the 74th minute in what ended up being the game winner for the Jayhawks.

"Not to say that we're familiar with being down, but we kind of like being the underdogs," Wimes said after the game. "So, when we go down, we just tell everyone, don't put your heads down. Keep pushing. We just kept chipping away and we got the goal. We're just relentless all the time."

Back to the Big 12 Championship!! #RockChalk pic.twitter.com/HW38D3pgoe
— Kansas Soccer (@KUWSoccer) November 6, 2025

Kansas has now won six consecutive Big 12 Tournament games dating back to last season under second year head coach Nate Lie. And if they win the Big 12 Championship on Saturday, they will become the first team to repeat as champions since West Virginia in 2013-14.

To do that, they’ll have to get past fellow underdog BYU (10-6-4). The No. 8 seeded Cougars also have a pair of upsets under their belts in this tournament after knocking off No. 1 seed TCU on penalty kicks (4-3) and then blanking the No. 5 seed Baylor Bears 4-0.

The Jayhawks beat BYU 3-1 on the road just a few weeks ago, and should be considered the favorite to beat the Cougars again and secure their second consecutive Big 12 Tournament Championship.

The match begins at 7 p.m. CT at Baylor’s Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field in Waco, Texas. Tickets can be purchased at kuathletics.com and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+

What it means for the NCAA Tournament

If KU were to repeat as Big 12 Tournament champions, it could greatly help solidify their position in this year’s upcoming NCAA Tournament.

A win on Saturday would not only automatically qualify the Jayhawks for this year’s NCAA Tournament, it would cement their position as a top 10 team in the RPI rankings – which is one of the determining factors in a team’s seeding for the NCAA Tournament, along with strength of schedule, conference record, and other variables.

The Jayhawks currently sit at No. 9 in the RPI rankings, and a win against BYU could potentially bump them up a little more.

The top 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament (4-seeds and above) get to host their first round matches and their second round matches (if they win) on their home field.

That would be a huge advantage for the Jayhawks to be able to play their first two rounds at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence with a chance to advance to the Sweet 16 – which they could also potentially host depending on how their bracket shakes out.

A win on Saturday against BYU in the Big 12 Championship could go a long way toward helping the Jayhawks make a run in the NCAA Tournament.