KU football’s 2017 schedule includes seven home dates

By Benton Smith Dec 13, 2016

Nick Krug

The Kansas Jayhawks take the field on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016 at Memorial Stadium.

Year Three of the David Beaty era at the University of Kansas will come with greater expectations for the football head coach now that he has signed a contract extension and received a raise. Beaty and his Jayhawks will at least get the benefit of a home-friendly schedule.

Seven of KU’s 12 games in 2017 will be played at Memorial Stadium, as detailed in the official calendar released by the Big 12 on Tuesday, following approval from the conference’s athletic directors.

The Jayhawks open the year with back-to-back home games against Southeast Missouri State (Sept. 2) and Central Michigan (Sept. 9), before wrapping up the non-conference portion of the schedule on the road, at Ohio (Sept. 16) — a rematch of KU’s 2016 Week 2 home loss to coach Frank Solich’s Bobcats.

Kansas is right back in Lawrence the following week to open Big 12 play against West Virginia (Sept. 23) before an idle week.

From there, Kansas closes out its slate with eight consecutive Saturdays of conference action. KU’s final four home games come against Texas Tech (Oct. 7), rival Kansas State (Oct. 28), Baylor (Nov. 4) and defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma (Nov. 18).

The Jayhawks’ four league road tests will take place at Iowa State (Oct. 14), TCU (Oct. 21), Texas (Nov. 11) and Oklahoma State (Nov. 25).

The Kansas football program, of course, has failed to win a road game for seven consecutive seasons. The Jayhawks last left a visiting stadium victorious in September of 2009, with a win at UTEP.

KU hasn’t captured a victory in an opposing Big 12 venue in even longer. The program’s last conference road win came in October of 2008, at Iowa State.

The Jayhawks have lost 44 consecutive games outside of Lawrence, 41 straight true road games and 36 in a row at a Big 12 foe’s stadium.

The 2017 Big 12 calendar features a 10-team, nine-game, round-robin schedule for the seventh straight season. Next year, though, will mark the first time for a new wrinkle: the addition of a conference championship game, to be played Dec. 2. The top two teams in the final Big 12 standings will square off at AT & T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Kickoff times for KU’s 2017 schedule have yet to be announced. Dates are subject to change, as adjustments are expected to accommodate requests from national television networks. Broadcast selections for the first three weeks of the season and special dates are due to the league by June 1, according to the Big 12.