Tag: kansas jayhawks

ESPN announces start time for Jayhawks’ first game at Arrowhead Stadium

ESPN announced that the Kansas Jayhawks’ matchup against the TCU Horned Frogs at Arrowhead Stadium will kick off at 2:30 PM CST on Saturday.

The Kansas Jayhawks are hoping to bounce back from three brutal losses in a row on Saturday when they host the TCU Horned Frogs at Arrowhead Stadium.

The University of Kansas is currently undergoing renovations to the David Booth Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, which is expected to go well into 2025. Luckily for the Jayhawks, Kansas City Chiefs executives offered Arrowhead Stadium as a temporary home for the 2024 season.

On Saturday, Kansas will look to secure their second victory of the season against a formidable TCU team.

Details of the game were finally announced after the start time of Saturday’s game was left up in the air.

Check out all the important information in a tweet by Kansas Football’s official account:

https://twitter.com/KU_Football/status/1838255292402053551

The Jayhawks started their 2024 season with high expectations after two straight bowl game appearances during head coach Lance Leiopld’s tenure.

Kansas fans hope that dual-threat quarterback Jalon Daniels can finally settle into place and play at a high level. If the senior signal-caller can step up and running back Devin Neal continues to perform at an elite level, the Jayhawks may be able to walk out of Arrowhead with a victory.

Duke left outside the top five in ESPN’s way-too-early 2024-25 college basketball rankings

Despite the Blue Devils bringing in top-ranked freshman Cooper Flagg, ESPN doesn’t have Duke as a top-five team in its early 2024-25 rankings.

ESPN released its early men’s basketball rankings for the 2024-25 season last week, and the Blue Devils finished near the bottom of the top 10 despite a loaded roster.

Senior writer Jeff Borzello put Duke eighth on his rankings, still the highest-ranked team in the ACC but below preseason expectations for head coach Jon Scheyer’s team.

Scheyer managed to secure top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] from the Class of 2024, one of six top-40 prospects who joined the Blue Devils this offseason. [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] just represented South Sudan at the 2024 Olympic Games, and starters Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor both return in leadership roles.

However, Borzello thinks Flagg needs to live up to all of his hype as a generational talent for the Blue Devils to reach the upper echelon.

“Flagg is good enough to be in contention (for the Wooden Award)…and Duke will need him to be,” Borzello wrote.

While there’s reason for concern about a team that seems to be planning on starting multiple freshmen, such a sentiment feels slightly dismissive of the older talent. Proctor led the team with 3.7 assists per game last season, and he’ll have more surrounding talent than ever before. Foster shot better than 40% from 3-point range, Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown paced the ACC in effective field goal percentage, and Tulane transfer Sion James averaged 14.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.6 steals with the Green Wave in 2023-24.

The Kansas Jayhawks, two years removed from their latest national championship, took the top spot after luring transfers AJ Storr from the Wisconsin Badgers and Rylan Griffen from the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Crimson Tide still managed to finish second in Borzello’s rankings, followed by the two-time defending national champion Connecticut Huskies.

Big 12 has five teams in AP Top 25 poll following Week 2

The Big 12 Conference sees five teams in the Top 25 of the Associated Press Poll following Week 2.

The latest AP poll is out following Week Two of the College Football season. Once again, the Big 12 has five teams from the conference in the poll. This time, there is a new team in the rankings.

Out went the Kansas Jayhawks. Following their road loss at Illinois, the Jayhawks dropped out, along with Iowa, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina State.

Into the Top 25 is the Iowa State Cyclones. The Cyclones went to Iowa City and knocked out rival Iowa in the annual CyHawk game. The Cyclones are now 21st in the rankings, ahead of Clemson, Nebraska, Boston College, and Northern Illinois.

The Big 12 sees a trio of teams in a row. The first Big 12 team in the rankings is the Utah Utes at No. 12, followed by Oklahoma State and Kansas State. The final team from the Big 12 is the Arizona Wildcats. They come in at 20th, just ahead of Iowa State.

At the top of the poll are the Georgia Bulldogs, Texas Longhorns, Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Ole Miss Rebels.

One of the big games in the Big 12 this week features Kansas State hosting Arizona. This will be a battle between a pair of top 20 teams in the poll.

The SEC has the most teams in the poll, with eight, while the Big Ten has six inside the top 25.

Utah the lone top 10 ranked team from the Big 12 in Coaches Poll

The Utah Utes are 10th in the most recent Coaches Poll.

There was not a ton of movement for the Big 12 in the Coaches Poll after Week 2. One Big 12 left the rankings and a new one joined. The Kansas Jayhawks were the lone team from the Big 12 to leave the poll, while the Iowa State Cyclones have moved into the 23rd spot.

The Utah Utes remained the top-ranked Big 12 team in the Coaches Poll, coming in at number ten. They come in just below Penn State and Tennessee, and just ahead of USC and Miami.

Next for the conference is the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who are 14th in the rankings. Kansas State checks in next at the 15th spot. The Arizona Wildcats remained in the top 20 as well, coming in at 18th. They are just ahead of a pair of teams that have lost; Notre Dame and Clemson.

As for the Jayhawks, with their loss to Illinois, they still received votes, but just 10. That put them 11th, which places them at 36th in the country. Central Florida is two spots behind at 38th, while TCU comes in at 40th, and BYU is 46th.

Jalon Daniels struggles in nightmare loss for Kansas to Illinois

The Kansas Jayhawks lost to Illinois Saturday in Week 2 College Football action.

It was a nightmare for the 19th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday night. In front of a sold-out crowd of 60,000 Orange-clad fans at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Kansas fell to the Fighting Illini of Illinois, 23-17.

Jalon Daniels, the Jayhawks signal caller, finished the game with just 141 passing yards, and the most important note was the three interceptions. One of the interceptions led to a final-minute touchdown for the Illini just before halftime.

The Jayhawks seemingly went away from their strongest offensive weapon, running back Devin Neal. Neal finished the game with 14 carries and 101 yards, an average of 7.2 yards per carry. Daniel Hishaw, the other running back also averaged 5.6 yards per carry for Kansas.

Illinois took the lead with 9:34 to go in the game, as Kaden Feagin rushed in from 1-yard out. After Kansas could not move the ball, Illinois milked over 6:00 off the clock and knocked down a field goal to go ahead by six points.

Kansas could not get the ball into the end zone at the end of the game, including a fumble on the final play from Daniels to set up the Hail Mary.

Luke Atmyer finished with 192 yards passing for Illinois. Zakhari Franklin was his top target, with nine receptions and 99 yards in the game. He did lose a fumble in the game.

Kansas will now likely be unranked, and is currently out of the current College Football Playoff picture. Despite the loss, Kansas will still be a dark horse pick in the Big 12 standings when it gets underway. The Jayhawks will now head home and host UNLV in Week 3. The Rebels are 2-0, and reached a bowl game a season ago.

Illinois will remain at home, and seek to win their third straight game when the Chippewas of Central Michigan come to town.

Which Big 12 teams are College Football Playoff contenders heading into Week 2?

Take a look at the potential College Football Playoff teams from the Big 12 heading into Week 2.

As we head into Week 2 of the College Football season, all eyes are on the potential playoff teams. With 12 teams heading to the newly expanded College Football Playoffs, it makes for some interesting results outside of the top few teams in the country.

Week 2 has some fun games from the Big 12 on the calendar. Here are the potential Big 12 College Football Playoff teams as we head into Week 2:

Utah Utes

Utah looked good in their opener. Sure, it was against Southern Utah, but they were solid from start to finish. The best news for Kyle Whittingham was seeing his quarterback Cam Rising look sharp.  His connection with Dijon Stanley is going to be one to watch all season long.

Utah will play the first Big 12 game of the season in Week 2 as they take on Baylor. The Utes are 11th in the latest Associated Press poll, up one spot from last week.

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Ollie Gordon made his presence felt in the first game of the season with three rushing touchdowns. The only legitimate candidate to win the Heisman from the running back position is going to be given the rock early and often this season.

Quarterback Alan Bowman was also strong with three passing touchdowns in the win. The Cowboys sit at 16th in the Associated Press poll. Oklahoma State will look to make it 2-0 on the season as they host the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday.

Kansas State Wildcats

The Wildcats made quick and easy work of Tennessee-Martin. Quarterback Avery Johnson is going to be tough to slow down with his ability to throw the football and also run with it. He finished with 153 passing yards and 37 on the ground in the blowout.

Kansas State is 17th, just behind Oklahoma State in the Associated Press poll. The Wildcats are on the road at Tulane on Saturday. The Green Wave won their opener a week ago as well.

Kansas Jayhawks

Jalen Daniels only had to throw the ball 15 times in Kansas’ first game, a win over Lindenwood. Devin Neal was the star of the show, as he rushed eight times for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

Kansas has a ton of returning talent from last season. The Fighting Illini of Illinois will give the Jayhawks quite the battle in Week 2 on Saturday night. Kansas sits at 19th in the latest AP poll.

Arizona Wildcats

The Wildcats put up one of the most impressive offensive performances in Week 1, dropping 61 points on New Mexico. Noah Fifita was strong with 422 passing yards, most going to receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who recorded 304 of those yards.

The Wildcats heated up late last season, and it seems they are not going to skip a beat in 2024. Arizona is ranked 20th in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Wildcats will host Northern Arizona on Saturday.

Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State was not super strong on the offensive side in Week 1, but the defense made up for it. They allowed just three points in the win over North Dakota. The offense will be tested again this week, as they take on one of the best defensive teams in college football in Iowa.  Rocco Becht is not to be blamed for the slow offense, going 20 of 26 for 267 yards and two scores in the game. The Cyclones are fourth in receiving votes.

The best Week 2 college football matchups in the Big 12 conference

Highlighting four of the best Big 12 matchups in Week 2 of the college football season.

The page has turned from Week 1 to Week 2 of the college football season. Last week was fun, but this week seemingly can be even more fun.

Some great games on tap, with the Big 12 going toe to toe with several of the other top conferences in college football.

Let’s take a look at the best college football games for Week 2 from the Big 12 conference:

Arkansas Razorbacks at Oklahoma State Cowboys

The Arkansas Razorbacks will come to Stillwater following their 70-0 thrashing over Arkansas Pine-Bluff. Fools gold for the Razorbacks, who are projected no better than the middle of the pack in the tough SEC.

Arkansas running back Ja’Quinden Jackson may pose some problems for the Cowboys’ defense in this one, but he is no Ollie Gordon. This should be the second straight game Gordon is the best player on the field. The stud running back accounted for three of the Cowboys’ touchdowns in the 24-point win over South Dakota State.

This should be an interesting game between two power conference programs, but playing in Stillwater could be the deciding factor.

Iowa State Cyclones at Iowa Hawkeyes

The first team to 20 points wins this one? The Iowa State Cyclones and Iowa Hawkeyes both played a very defensive game last week. Iowa State allowed just a field goal in the win over North Dakota. Iowa allowed no points against Illinois State.

Iowa scored 40 in the game, but for the most part, the offense was not great. Iowa State struggled offensively, scoring just 21 points in the game.

The Hawkeyes won the matchup last season in Ames. There is one thing on the Cyclones’ mind when this game gets going. That is revenge. Fun in the heartland on Saturday.

Baylor Bears at Utah Utes

The first Big 12 conference game of the 2024 season. The Baylor Bears were impressive winners in Week 1. It was a much-needed blowout win against Tarleton State. Now, the work needs to get started, as a big-time underdog on the road.

Utah was really good in Week 1 as well. Cam Rising was strong and looks like he could contend as one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. The game being played in Salt Lake City is a big deal. Despite not being conference mates, these two teams played a season ago in a game the Utes won, 20-13.

Kansas Jayhawks at Illinois Fighting Illini

This game could be the game of the week in college football. Kansas beat up on Illinois a season ago. The fans in Champaign are expecting different this season under head coach Brett Bielema. But, in the end, the Jayhawks should win the talent differentiation.

Jalon Daniels is back and is healthy. Devin Neal is a beast on the offensive side as well, and the Jayhawks defense is ready to fly around. It’s been a long time since Kansas beat a power conference team on the road, outside of the Big 12. That should change Saturday in Champaign.

How flipping a coin helped five-star freshman Khaman Maluach end up at Duke

Five-star basketball freshman Khaman Maluach couldn’t decide whether he wanted to play for Duke or Kansas. So, naturally, he flipped a coin.

As his recruiting cycle narrowed down at the start of the year, five-star basketball prospect [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] couldn’t decide between Duke, the UCLA Bruins, and the Kansas Jayhawks.

On a Tuesday episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, Maluach told sophomore teammate Caleb Foster that, once he narrowed his focus down to those three schools, he kept going back and forth.

“I would wake up in the morning and I’d be like, ‘Oh, I’m going to Duke,'” Maluach said. “And then, at noon, I’d be like ‘Oh, no, I’m going to Kansas.’ And then, before I go to sleep, I’m like ‘Oh, I’ll go to UCLA.'”

Maluach lost some sleep in the process, but he eventually trimmed it down to two schools, the Jayhawks and the Blue Devils. The seven-footer from South Sudan still couldn’t pick one or the other.

So he just flipped a coin.

“The craziest part, the coin fell on Kansas’s side,” Maluach said. “I was disappointed. That’s how I knew I wanted to go to Duke.”

With his decision made, Maluach joined three other five-star freshmen, including top-ranked [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], in the 2024 Duke recruiting class. The rest, head coach Jon Scheyer hopes, will be history.

Kansas Jayhawks listed as most underrated in Big 12 Conference

Are the Kansas Jayhawks the most underrated team in the Big 12?

Lance Leipold and the Kansas Jayhawks are set to get going with the 2024 season. The Jayhawks are coming off a bowl win over UNLV a season ago. Now, Kansas will bring their quarterback Jalon Daniels back under center and take their chances in a Big 12 that lost Texas and Oklahoma.

CBS Sports put together a piece on Big 12 Football, and the Kansas Jayhawks were listed as one of the most underrated teams in the league. Here is what writer Richard Johnson had to say about the Jayhawks:

Give me all the Jayhawks stock I can buy to make a pretty serious run at a Big 12 championship behind Jalon Daniels at quarterback; he just has to stay healthy. If he can, this Lance Leipold team will do what just about every Leipold team has done before it: win.  If Jalon Daniels stays healthy (and I understand it’s a big if), his dual-threat ability vaults Kansas to serious conference title contender status and propels him to New York to hold up a certain stiff-arming trophy in early December.

As the writers went along, Dennis Dodd, also of CBS Sports doubled down with the Jayhawks love:

I’ve got two. The Big 12 will get two teams in the playoff with either Kansas State or Utah reaching the semifinals. Kansas’ Lance Leipold will be national coach of the year candidate after winning at least nine games.

Some other teams listed as underrated out of the Big 12 are Iowa State, Central Florida, Texas Tech and Kansas State.

ESPN announces tip-off time for Duke basketball game against Kansas in Las Vegas

Duke basketball will play Kansas under the Las Vegas lights after ESPN confirmed the game’s tip-off time on Thursday.

The Duke Blue Devils and Kansas Jayhawks get to play a night game in the country’s most nocturnal city.

The Las Vegas Showdown revealed its tip-off times on Thursday with Duke and Kansas set for the first game of the night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time on November 26th.

The battle pits two preseason favorites against each other on the hardwood. Duke, thanks to top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], opened as the No. 1 overall seed in ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi’s projected 2025 bracket. However, Kansas coach Bill Self lured big names from the transfer portal to supplant Jon Scheyer’s team atop Lunardi’s rankings.

The Tuesday game also marks the back half of a road trip for Scheyer’s team as the Blue Devils play Arizona in its home arena just four days earlier.

With the game taking place out west, the Blue Devils and Jayhawks will actually be the first game of the night. Seattle and Furman, the other two teams competing at the inaugural event, will tip off at 11:30 p.m. Eastern time

The announcement came within hours of the State Farm Champions Classic revealing that Duke and Kentucky would also play at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time on November 12, albeit as the second of two games.