What Lance Leipold said about the bowl game conversation around Kansas football
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas dominated Oklahoma State as 24.5-point favorites; one more win secures bowl.
- Three remaining opponents — Arizona, Iowa State and Utah — present tough road.
- A bowl berth would redeem the program and revive fan engagement after frustrating weeks.
After Kansas football’s blowout loss to K-State, coach Lance Leipold talked about the opportunity the Jayhawks — 4-4 at the time — had in front of them with four games left.
Well, Kansas did the easy part Saturday. KU, which entered as a 24.5-point favorite, dominated Oklahoma State to earn win No. 5 on the season.
Now, Kansas (5-4, 3-3 Big 12) is just one win from bowl eligibility. If KU can make a bowl game, it would be the program’s third such appearance in four seasons.
It won’t be easy. The Jayhawks’ three remaining opponents — Arizona, Iowa State and Utah — likely all will be favored. As of Monday afternoon, Arizona was a 5.5-point favorite over the Jayhawks.
Two of those games, against Arizona and Iowa State, are on the road.
Making a bowl game could provide the Jayhawks some redemption from last season, when they started 2-6 before rattling off three straight wins over ranked opponents.
The Jayhawks had an opportunity to make a bowl game if they had defeated Baylor in their regular-season finale. But the Bears blew out the Jayhawks, sending them to a 5-7 finish.
Leipold, along with many of the returning players, know the Jayhawks are in familiar territory. But the KU coach called the bowl conversation a “talking point” while downplaying the importance of previous seasons’ outcomes on what will happen in 2026.
“It’s still going out and preparing to win a football game each and every week,” Leipold said. “They know what a sixth win will do. We’ve got to do everything we can to make that happen this week against a really good football team on the road.
“It’s going to be a challenge. The ones that have been here understand what we’ve continued to strive through here. I think our newcomers understood what they were walking into. … It’s not a daily talked-about matter. We continue to stress preparation in everything that we do and finding a way to get everything done without putting extra pressure on them.”
For many KU fans, it’s imperative the Jayhawks make a bowl game — particularly after the team’s disappointing 2024 season, followed by a slew of inconsistent performances of late.
The Jayhawks lost both rivalry games this year — at Missouri and at home vs. K-State — and they have never won a rivalry game (0-6) under Leipold. He acknowledged fans’ embarrassment and frustration over the Jayhawks’ 17-game overall losing streak to K-State after that contest.
KU was also blown out 42-17 by Texas Tech a game before the K-State contest.
Since the Sunflower Showdown, buzz has quickly quieted around the KU football program — especially with basketball season nearing (and, as of Monday night, underway)
That was fully displayed in the stands at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, as the energy inside “The Booth” felt flat vs. Oklahoma State.
The upper tier of the student section was almost completely empty at kickoff and, after filling in some shortly after, there were still more than a dozen empty rows across multiple sections on that side of the field.
For that, a win Saturday could help revitalize the fan base.
“With the guys that we have, I feel like we could have done everything we needed to do,” KU safety Lyrik Rawls told The Star after KU defeated Oklahoma State. “We came up short in some games, but now we’ve got to get somewhere (in the) postseason. So the goal is to win it on out.”
