Kansas coach Lance Leipold has been impressed by what he’s seen from away fans during the month of October. UCF’s Acrisure Bounce House, he said on Monday, was a “very impressive game-day atmosphere,” and Texas Tech’s Jones AT&T Stadium was “the loudest place we’ve played out this year.”
Now he wants to see that same fervor replicated at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Saturday when Kansas State comes to Lawrence, and for the rest of the year.
“Fans in college football are more impactful than sometimes we can realize, in creating that atmosphere,” Leipold said. “Yes we have a renovated, two-thirds brand-new shiny stadium that’s really impressive, but if we don’t have an environment in there, it’ll not be fully put to its use.”
While it’s not by any means the only indicator of a thriving game-day environment, KU has to this point sold out two of its four home games: the season opener against Fresno State on Aug. 23, which was also the grand unveiling of the new stadium, and the Cincinnati game on Sept. 27 that coincided with KU’s Family Weekend. On those two occasions David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium reached its new capacity of 41,525, which is about 6,000 fewer seats than in its previous configuration.
The Wagner game on a Friday night, Aug. 29, drew 39,129, while West Virginia got 40,320. Tickets are still available for Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown, as well as for the homecoming game against Oklahoma State (recently announced for 3 p.m. on Nov. 1) and senior day against Utah (11 a.m. on Black Friday, Nov. 28).
Between 2022 and 2023, the last two seasons KU played in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium before it underwent its first phase of construction, the Jayhawks sold out seven of their 13 home games, including the 2023 Sunflower Showdown. They are now 5-4 before nine sellout crowds at the Booth under Leipold, and 6-5 in home sellouts overall (after selling out Children’s Mercy Park twice in 2024).
“We need our students, we need our fans,” Leipold said, “and again, in a state rivalry game like this, we need it to be special, and not just for this game, but every one there to follow, and it is important.”
He acknowledged that “it’s important for us to play well and give our fans reason to be excited about our program.” Indeed, KU drew its three sellouts of 2022 and its first of 2023 during a pair of unbeaten starts.
“But to me they kind of go together in what it can be, and I hope we have a great atmosphere at 11 a.m. Saturday,” Leipold said.
The Jayhawks enter Saturday at 4-3 and 2-2 in the Big 12 coming off a bye week following their 42-17 loss at Texas Tech on Oct. 11; the Wildcats are 3-4 and 2-2, having most recently beaten TCU 41-28 in Manhattan that same day.
Kansas State has won 16 consecutive games in the rivalry, including four- and two-point wins the last two seasons. KU is a three-point favorite, the first time the Jayhawks have been favored in the matchup since 2009, according to OddsShark data. That game resulted in a 17-10 win for the Wildcats in Manhattan that commenced the current streak.
“This program is aware how many games they’ve won in a row,” Leipold said. “I’m not going to act like they don’t (know). And we shared that with our players, as part of the process of where this is at. They can’t change what was done in the past. What you can change is what you do today, the work you put in and what you do on Saturday.”
