The new-look Big 12 Conference isn’t just dealing with a wide-ranging expansion that brings in four teams from the Pac-12 Conference in 2024. There are also surprises among the teams that have been there for a long time.
The biggest of those surprises in the preseason — to longtime college football fans at least — is the inclusion of Kansas in various Top 25 polls. The Sporting News has Kansas at No. 21 in its composite Top 25 preseason rankings, using seven different polls to find the median rankings across the board.
Kansas was one of four teams to land in the composite Top 25 along with No. 12 Utah, No. 17 Arizona and No. 18 Kansas, with West Virginia also receiving votes.
Georgia, which won back-to-back College Football Playoff championships following the 2021 and 2022 seasons, is ranked No. 1.
Kansas finished 2023 ranked at No. 23 in the final Associated Press Top 25 rankings after a win in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. It was the first time the Jayhawks have finished in the final AP Top 25 since 2007 and first bowl win since 2008.
Kansas opens the season on Aug. 29 against Lindenwood, an FCS school.
