Kansas men’s basketball program to open Big 12 slate at home vs. TCU on Jan. 1

By Matt Tait Sep 15, 2021

Nick Krug

The Kansas bench empties to celebrate during a timeout in the second half on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Kansas men’s basketball team will open Big 12 play on Jan. 1 at home against TCU, the conference revealed Wednesday.

The Big 12 Conference released the complete conference schedule for both the men’s teams and the women’s teams Wednesday, and the Kansas men’s basketball program will be featured four times on ESPN’s Big Monday.

It marks the 15th time in the past 16 seasons that KU will be on Big Monday the maximum number of times allowed by the conference in a given season — Jan. 17 at Oklahoma, Jan. 24 versus Texas Tech, Feb. 7 at Texas and Feb. 14 when Oklahoma State comes to Allen Fieldhouse.

Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97, Kansas is 74-20 all-time on ESPN’s Big Monday (44-1 at home and 30-19 on the road), including 55-14 under head coach Bill Self (33-0 at home and 22-14 on the road). Additionally, KU has won 37 consecutive Big Monday games in Allen Fieldhouse. Overall, KU is 19-2 in its last 21 ESPN Big Monday contests.

KU’s double round-robin Big 12 slate of 18 games will be added to an already tough nonconference schedule that features dates with Michigan State, Kentucky, Missouri, Colorado and potentially Alabama.

As usual, the Jayhawks will have plenty of challenges within the conference, as well, with Texas and Baylor expected to be ranked in or near the Top 10 in most major preseason polls.

Baylor enters the 2021-22 season as the defending conference champs. Kansas won it the year before, but, after a 14-year reign as kings of the conference, Bill Self’s squad has finished out of the top spot in two of the past three seasons.

KU will officially tip off the 2021-22 season with the 37th annual Late Night in the Phog on Oct. 1, at Allen Fieldhouse. KU’s exhibition opener is slated for Nov. 3 against Emporia State at Allen Fieldhouse. And the Jayhawks will open the regular season on Nov. 9 against Michigan State in the Champions Classic in New York City.

KU women open on the road

The Big 12 Conference also released the 2021-22 women’s basketball schedules on Wednesday, and Kansas will open the conference season at TCU on Jan. 2, 2022.

After that, KU will head back home to Allen Fieldhouse for back-to-back home games against West Virginia and Oklahoma on Jan. 5 and Jan. 8 before playing out the rest of the 18-game schedule.

The Kansas women will travel to Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan for the first Sunflower Showdown on Jan. 19 and the Wildcats will return the trip to Lawrence on Feb. 12.

Other home dates on the KU women’s schedule include: Baylor on Jan. 16, Texas Tech on Jan. 22, TCU on Feb. 5, Oklahoma State on Feb. 16, Iowa State on Feb. 23 and Senior Day against Texas on March 2.

The women’s team will open the season with four consecutive home games starting with SIU-Edwardsville on Nov. 10, before heading to Las Vegas for the South Point Shootout in late November.

2021-22 KU men’s basketball schedule

Nov. 3 vs. Emporia State (exhibition)

Nov. 9 vs. Michigan State (Champions Classic, New York City)

Nov. 12 vs. Tarleton State

Nov. 18 vs. Stony Brook

Nov. 25 vs. North Texas (ESPN Events Invitational, Orland, Fla.)

Nov. 26 vs. Dayton OR Miami (ESPN Events Invitational, Orland, Fla.)

Nov. 28 vs. Alabama, Belmont, Drake or Iona (ESPN Events Invitational, Orland, Fla.)

Dec. 3 at St. John’s

Dec. 7 vs. UTEP (Kansas City, Mo.)

Dec. 11 vs. Missouri

Dec. 18 vs. Stephen F. Austin

Dec. 21 at Colorado

Dec. 29 vs. Harvard

Jan. 1 vs. TCU

Jan. 4 at Oklahoma State

Jan. 8 at Texas Tech

Jan. 11 vs. Iowa State

Jan. 15 vs. West Virginia

Jan. 17 at Oklahoma

Jan. 22 at Kansas State

Jan. 24 vs. Texas Tech

Jan. 29 vs. Kentucky

Feb. 1 at Iowa State

Feb. 5 vs. Baylor

Feb. 7 at Texas

Feb. 12 vs. Oklahoma

Feb. 14 vs. Oklahoma State

Feb. 19 at West Virginia

Feb. 22 vs. Kansas State

Feb. 26 at Baylor

March 1 at TCU

March 5 vs. Texas

2021-22 KU women’s basketball schedule

Nov. 10 vs. SIU-Edwardsville

Nov. 14 vs. Tennessee State

Nov. 17 vs. Omaha

Nov. 21 vs. Saint Louis

Nov. 26 vs. Tennessee (South Point Shootout, Las Vegas, Nev.)

Nov. 27 vs. UTEP (South Point Shootout, Las Vegas, Nev.)

Dec. 1 vs. UTRGV

Dec. 5 vs. Vanderbilt

Dec. 12 vs. Santa Clara

Dec. 21 at Wichita State

Dec. 28 vs. Northwestern State

Jan. 2 at TCU

Jan. 5 vs. West Virginia

Jan. 8 vs. Oklahoma

Jan. 12 at Texas

Jan. 16 vs. Baylor

Jan. 19 at Kansas State

Jan. 22 vs. Texas Tech

Jan. 26 at Iowa State

Jan. 29 at Oklahoma State

Feb. 5 vs. TCU

Feb. 9 at West Virginia

Feb. 12 vs. Kansas State

Feb. 16 vs. Oklahoma State

Feb. 19 at Texas Tech

Feb. 23 vs. Iowa State

Feb. 26 at Baylor

March 2 vs. Texas

March 5 at Oklahoma

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.