Why it’s important for KU Jayhawks to keep playing football games in ‘unique windows’

The Kansas Jayhawks rarely play a traditional football schedule.

In recent years, coach Lance Leipold’s team has shown a willingness to play on Friday nights instead of Saturday afternoons. That trend will continue this season when the Jayhawks play both Wagner and Utah on weekdays.

But they will also play earlier than usual with a Week 0 game against Fresno State on Aug. 23 in Lawrence.

It is clearly important for Kansas to play football games at unconventional dates and times. And KU athletic director Travis Goff and Leipold explained why that is unlikely to change on Wednesday at Big 12 Media Days.

“We just have an openness to playing in windows that give us great exposure,” Goff said. “Our past performance wasn’t going to afford us many prime-time slots. ... When Illinois came to Lawrence we fought so hard to get that game on Friday to get a national audience on ESPN and be that only game on a Friday night in September. That was really special and a major growth storyline for our program.”

Leipold is in favor of playing Fresno State a week earlier than most teams because it will give KU an opportunity to showcase its stadium renovations after spending all of 2024 playing away from home at Children’s Mercy Park and GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

A large TV audience will also be expected to watch that game.

“There’s a limited amount of games on in Week 0,” Leipold said. “We feel it will be a great time and exposure for our program and our new stadium.”

KU will return to its home stadium six days later to play Wagner on a Friday night during Week 1.

That may seem strange when you consider that game won’t be on national TV. But the Jayhawks have other reasons for playing that game on a weekday night. They have played FCS opponents on weekdays in recent seasons because it has helped them with future games on the schedule.

The hope is playing Wagner on Friday will help the Jayhawks perform well at Missouri eight days later.

“The Friday game is another opportunity as we go into the third game of the year to have a chance for an extra day of prep,” Leipold said. “We have played a lot of our FCS opponents on a weeknight, and we felt like it would be good to stay in that format.”

Kansas is excited about its upcoming schedule, and the Jayhawks will likely keep playing at non-traditional times if things go well.

“We will continue to operate that way,” Goff said. “The conference also has that mentality more broadly. Let’s stand out. Let’s stand apart. Let’s try and take some of the viewers from the big time, prime-time slots. So I think that’s an approach that fits for us.”

This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Why it’s important for KU Jayhawks to keep playing football games in ‘unique windows’."

Kellis Robinett

The Wichita Eagle

Kellis Robinett covers Kansas State athletics for The Wichita Eagle and The Kansas City Star. A winner of more than a dozen national writing awards, he lives in Manhattan with his wife and four children.