Once Kansas reaches the midway point of its schedule, it begins to look a bit more favorable.
The extent to which the Jayhawks can take advantage will depend on where their morale sits and how much momentum they have amassed during the first half — which will certainly be challenging with rivalry games against Kansas State and Missouri, the Union Jack Classic and a road date at Utah — but if they can get through, at least some of the second half should be easier.
Yes, it features six games all in a row. But that gantlet includes all three of KU’s home Big 12 games, against Baylor, BYU and UCF, and there are worse teams to play on the road than Oklahoma State, TCU and West Virginia. Besides BYU, the Jayhawks don’t get much of the upper echelon of the conference, or at least the teams that appear to be up there, like Texas Tech, Houston and Arizona.
KU’s endurance and its much-discussed depth will be put to the test as it heads down the home stretch. Here are more details on the Jayhawks’ final six league foes of the 2026 season.
Baylor running back Caden Knighten runs the ball during the second half of an NCAA college football game between Baylor and Auburn Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Waco, Texas.
Baylor (Oct. 24): Even when they haven’t been at the top of the league, the Bears have consistently vexed KU, to the point that they have now beaten the Jayhawks 14 times in a row, including in a crushing result at McLane Stadium in the 2024 season finale that prevented them from reaching the postseason.
Baylor retained Dave Aranda for a seventh season at the helm in part because its athletic director resigned near the end of the season and it wanted to maintain some sort of stability. Time will tell whether Aranda, with former K-State assistant Joe Klanderman now installed to lead the defense, can bring the Bears back to the heights of their breakout 2021 season.
This year’s KU-Baylor matchup arrives on a big weekend — it’ll be the university’s homecoming, the day before a KU-Duke exhibition men’s basketball match and, again, one of just three Big 12 football games in Lawrence this year.
The biggest move of BU’s offseason, besides retaining Aranda, was bringing in quarterback DJ Lagway, a former blue-chip quarterback recruit whose father Derek was a running back for the Bears. Lagway will attempt to revitalize his career after an underwhelming tenure at Florida. Baylor also secured a key victory in court when Hosea Wheeler, a defensive tackle transferring in from national champion Indiana, earned an injunction to play this season.
The Bears do not return a lot of prominent contributors from last season; the headliner may be All-American punter Palmer Williams. Sophomore running back Caden Knighten should be in line for an even bigger role after a promising first year. Klanderman’s defense will be familiar for the four veteran transfers he brought with him from K-State.
TCU wide receiver Jordan Dwyer (7) gains yards after a catch as Colorado defensive back Preston Hodge (4) makes the stop in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas.
TCU (Oct. 31): Quarterback Josh Hoover is off to Indiana to attempt to follow in the footsteps of Fernando Mendoza, and the Horned Frogs have replaced him with Jaden Craig, an All-Ivy League selection who could be among the best transfers in the Big 12 this year.
TCU may have flown under the radar somewhat ever since it followed up its national runner-up season with a 5-7 campaign, but the Frogs are coming off consecutive 9-4 records with bowl victories and have sent a variety of players to the NFL. KU hasn’t beaten them on the road since 1996, and the most recent meeting between the two teams was one of the more unpleasant losses of the Jayhawks’ 2024 season.
Safety Jamel Johnson is one of the top players at his position in the Big 12 and was his team’s lone preseason all-conference selection. TCU recently dismissed another promising player in its defensive backfield, Louisiana Tech transfer Jacob Fields, due to a violation of team rules. Bud Clark, the player Fields was supposed to replace, is gone to the pros, as are several well-regarded linebackers. In any case, the Frogs should be solid upfront with returning players like defensive tackles Markis Deal and Ansel Din-Mbuh and defensive end Paul Oyewale.
The Horned Frogs have been among the Big 12’s worst rushing teams in recent years, but they bring back Jeremy Payne in the backfield. Craig will be able to target Jordan Dwyer, who had 54 catches for 730 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
Central Florida tight end Dylan Wade (0) runs against against North Carolina during the second half of an NCAA football game, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Orlando, Fla.
UCF (Nov. 7): Time will tell whether this proves to be the Dean Miller revenge game — the former KU defensive end has petitioned Florida courts for another year of eligibility so he can play for the Knights — but whatever the case it should be an exciting rematch of last year’s thriller, a 27-20 KU victory in which the Jayhawks’ defense held up multiple times deep in its own end.
Scott Frost is attempting to restore UCF to the glory of his first stint at the school, and bringing in a quarterback who has led a team to the College Football Playoff — dynamic James Madison transfer Alonza Barnett III — should help quite a bit given that the Knights have had a revolving door at the position in recent seasons.
There’s reason to like the playmakers around him given that the top three players in receiving yards last year, wideouts Duane Thomas Jr. and Waden Charles and tight end Dylan Wade, are still in town, joined by a group of transfers headlined by former Louisville running back Duke Watson.
The defense also has a bit of continuity, with linebacker Lewis Carter as one of the headliners, although it’ll be a new-look line, particularly with both Nyjalik Kelly and Malachi Lawrence off to the NFL.
West Virginia quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. warms up on the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Arizona State Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz.
West Virginia (Nov. 14): Another coach in his second year back at a previous stop is Rich Rodriguez. The Jayhawks demolished the Mountaineers in Lawrence last season amid a rash of running-back injuries and eligibility questions that had WVU in a strange spot. Now the Mountaineers have the nation’s leading rusher from last season, Cam Cook, who ran for 1,659 yards at Jacksonville State (after a fairly undistinguished start to his career at TCU, so it’ll be his second stint in the Big 12).
WVU played numerous quarterbacks last year with little success. Scotty Fox Jr., at the time a true freshman, at least showed some promise, and stuck around to compete with Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr. for the job this time. The Mountaineers will hope to address what have been significant issues on the offensive line with veteran position coach Rick Trickett and transfers like Carsten Casady (UConn), Wes King (Wyoming), Bubba Grayson (Jacksonville State), Cam Griffin (Jacksonville State) and Devin Vass (Kansas State). Tackle Kevin Brown could start in his first year at the collegiate level.
On defense, WVU has a well-regarded young coordinator in Zac Alley, but didn’t experience a lot of success in his first year. Transfer additions include defensive ends David Afogho (Bowling Green), Zeke Durham-Campbell (Coastal Carolina), Tobi Haastrup (Oregon) and Harper Holloman (Western Kentucky) and safeties Jacob Bradford (LSU), Andrew Powdrell (UNLV), Kameron Reddic (Stephen F. Austin) and Kamari Wilson (Memphis), among others.
BYU running back LJ Martin (4) runs after making a catch against Texas Tech during the Big 12 Conference championship NCAA college football game between Texas Tech and BYU Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.
BYU (Nov. 21): KU has had BYU’s number since the Cougars joined the Big 12, including most recently in a 17-13 upset victory at LaVell Edwards Stadium in 2024 that turned on a quick-kick fumble recovery. BYU is expected to contend for the Big 12 crown for a third straight season after the emergence of young quarterback Bear Bachmeier and a dominant season from running back LJ Martin helped the Cougars finish 12-2 with their only two losses to Texas Tech.
BYU was all over the preseason all-conference team, not only with Martin, the offensive player of the year, but also with center Bruce Mitchell and a host of defensive standouts: cornerback Evan Johnson, safety Faletau Satuala, tackle Keanu Tanuvasa and linebacker Cade Uluave, a Cal transfer who was first-team All-ACC in 2025. Combining Uluave with returners Siale Esera and Isaiah Glasker should make for a potent group.
Bachmeier was the Big 12’s offensive freshman of the year last season after he threw for 3,033 yards, ran for 527 and scored 26 total touchdowns. However, his three main targets by far, responsible for 14 of his 15 passing touchdowns, are gone, making Jojo Phillips (14 catches, 161 yards) the top returning wideout. The Cougars got Kyler Kasper as a transfer from Oregon, and tight end Walker Lyons (USC) should play a prominent role.
Oklahoma State cornerback Ladainian Fields (9) celebrates against Iowa State during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Stillwater, Okla.
Oklahoma State (Nov. 28): The Cowboys are one of the biggest mysteries in the country this season. They have transplanted the head coach and leading passer, rusher and receiver from the nation’s top offense in 2025 — North Texas — and will attempt to return to prominence under Eric Morris after Mike Gundy’s storied run came to an ignominious end.
The quarterback is Drew Mestemaker, the running back is Caleb Hawkins and the receiver is Wyatt Young, and while only Young found his way onto the preseason All-Big 12 team, Mestemaker was newcomer of the year and all three should rank among the league’s marquee offensive threats. Mestemaker, a former walk-on who did not start in high school and burst onto the scene in the First Responder Bowl at the end of the 2024 season, has become one of the best stories in college football. Besides Young, he’ll also be throwing to Justin Bowick (Illinois) and Chris Barnes (Wake Forest), among a variety of other transfers.
The North Texas contingent also features defensive tackles Saadiq Clements and Fatafehi Vailea II; wideouts Miles Coleman and Terrence Lewis; safeties Harrison Dempsey, Quinton Hammonds and Evan Jackson; guard Johnny Dickinson III; edge rusher Keviyan Huddleston; cornerback Kollin Lewis; offensive tackle Desmond Magiya; running back Dennis Moody III; linebacker Ethan Wesloski; and long snapper Caden Yates, to say nothing of the players who spent time at UNT before going somewhere else and then to OSU, like former KU center Tyler Mercer. (KU got former OSU center Kasen Carpenter in return.)
In many ways it will be a test of how well an elite Group of Six team — the Mean Green went 12-2 — can compete at the power-conference level with power-conference resources. A few players return from the previous era of OSU football, headlined by cornerback LaDainian Fields.
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