clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

24 Days: Using the Weather to Predict the Jayhawks Record

Can we use the weather to predict a football season?

Leicestershire v Durham - Bob Willis Trophy: Day 4 Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Predictions. The tool of every sport writer who is up against a deadline. Sometimes they are accurate. Sometimes they’re not. Some people use fancy tools such as math or statistics to predict a winner. But what if there is a better way?

What you are about to read very well may change the prediction industry forever. What if the weather could accurately predict a football season?

For the last 10 weeks I have been tracking the Saturday highs for Kansas and their opponents. it’s pretty simple. The high temperatures in Lawrence and the city of the opposing team are compared. The higher temperature is the winner. Ties will be decided by free throw percentage, of course.

Untitled

Week Opponent Lawrence High Opponent High Outcome
Week Opponent Lawrence High Opponent High Outcome
1 Coastal Carolina 78 83 L
2 Baylor 94 84 W
3 Oklahoma State 93 96 L
4 West Virginia 85 83 W
5 Kansas State 96 94 W
6 Iowa State 89 85 W
7 Oklahoma 94 100 L
8 Texas 95 95 L*
9 TCU 94 91 W
10 Texas Tech 93 97 L

For the tie against Texas I used the free throw percentages from the 2019-2020 basketball teams. The Longhorns edged the Jayhawks out with a percentage of 68.7 to the Jayhawks 66.7.

So there you have it. Kansas will finish the 2020 season with a record of 5-5. Provided the proposed season actually happens.