The Kansas football team has declined a bowl bid, a KU Athletics spokesperson confirmed on Sunday night.
The Jayhawks could potentially have had an opportunity to play a postseason game — their third of Lance Leipold’s tenure — despite their 5-7 record, because several bowl-eligible teams with at least six wins recently withdrew from postseason consideration.
Those included Iowa State and Kansas State, which have experienced recent coaching changes since the end of the regular season — ISU to Jimmy Rogers after Matt Campbell left for Penn State and KSU to Collin Klein after Chris Klieman’s retirement — and Notre Dame, which narrowly missed out on a spot in the College Football Playoff.
With an insufficient number of bowl-eligible teams for selection (and recent FBS additions Missouri State and Delaware already offered postseason opportunities), next up for consideration were 5-7 programs sorted by Academic Progress Rate. Rice, Mississippi State and eventually Appalachian State accepted bids, but numerous others declined them along the way — including, as first reported by On3’s Brett McMurphy and then confirmed by KU, the Jayhawks.
The Big 12 Conference announced earlier on Sunday that it had fined ISU and KSU $500,000 each for turning down postseason opportunities. It is not clear whether any penalties apply to 5-7 teams that decline bowl bids (McMurphy reported that UCF and Baylor also turned down opportunities). The Big 12 has not made any such announcement of additional penalties, and the conference office did not respond to the Journal-World’s request for comment.
KU officially, once and for all, concludes its 2025 season at 5-7 for the second year in a row. The Jayhawks previously lost in the Liberty Bowl in 2022 and then won the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Meanwhile, Appalachian State will fill the final available postseason spot by taking on Georgia Southern — its conference foe and rival that it faced a month ago — in the Birmingham Bowl, which will take place on Dec. 29.
