Kansas opens with two Friday nights in Lawrence, then plays the first college football game ever held at Wembley Stadium. Long Island visits on Sept. 4, Missouri comes to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium for the first time since 2005 on Sept. 11, and the Jayhawks meet Arizona State in London on Sept. 19 in a game that counts as a Big 12 conference opener for both teams. The lone bye follows, and Kansas then plays nine consecutive weeks through the finale at Oklahoma State.
Lance Leipold is in his sixth season after back to back 5-7 years. Jalon Daniels is gone to the NFL, redshirt sophomore Isaiah Marshall won the quarterback job in camp, and Andy Kotelnicki is back as offensive coordinator. The renovated stadium enters its second season.
Games That Will Define the Jayhawks’ Season
| Sept 11 vs Missouri | The 122nd Border Showdown and the first in Lawrence since a 13-3 Kansas win in 2005. Missouri won 42-31 in Columbia last year when the series resumed. Mizzou leads 57-55-9 overall; Kansas leads 26-16-3 in Lawrence. Friday night on FOX. |
| Sept 19 vs Arizona State | The first college football game at Wembley and Kansas’s first international game ever. It doubles as the Big 12 opener for both teams, and Kansas is the designated home side. |
| Oct 17 at Kansas State | The Sunflower Showdown in Manhattan, with K-State chasing an 18th straight win in the series under first year coach Collin Klein. It comes one week after a trip to Utah, the only back to back road games on the schedule. |
| Nov 21 vs BYU | The home finale against a preseason top 15 team that reached the 2025 Big 12 title game. BYU plays its ninth straight week here; Kansas plays its eighth. |
How the Schedule Sets Up
The first three weeks carry the emotional weight: a rival on Friday night, a trip to London, and a bye to recover. After that it alternates home and road nearly every week. Middle Tennessee is the last nonconference breather, the Utah and Kansas State trips come back to back, and the November finish is UCF and BYU at home around West Virginia and Oklahoma State on the road.
For the other side of these dates, see our Missouri schedule, Arizona State schedule and Kansas State schedule. The official schedule and ticket details are on KUAthletics.com.
The Bottom Line
Six home games, a London trip that counts as a seventh, one early bye, and nine straight to close. Leipold’s sixth team needs a bowl after two 5-7 finishes, and the first three weeks will say a lot about whether Marshall and Kotelnicki can get it there. Bookmark this page; results and kickoff times are updated throughout the season.