UPDATE

2:25 PM 8/4/2020

Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports is reporting on Twitter that Kansas will not open up with Southern Illinois on Aug 29 as currently scheduled. KU is expected to announce their revised opening date later this week.

Original article below.

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At 8:15 PM on Monday, Aug 3, the Big 12 officially announced its adoption of a 10-game conference schedule.

The common perception along the KU beat on social media is that the Jayhawks will drop Boston College and Coastal Carolina from their current schedule, although as of publication the schedule remains unchanged at KUAthletics.com. As far as I can tell, Kansas is expected to open up with Southern Illinois on Aug 29, then have several weeks off before conference play begins in “mid-to late-September” per the Big 12’s release.

This is in contrast to the SEC, Big 10, and Pac-12, who have announced conference-only schedules, while the ACC has also adopted a plus one schedule similar to the Big 12.

If that all holds true, KU will travel to Baylor on Sept 12, and then won’t play again until Kansas is scheduled to host Iowa State on Oct 3. The Jayhawks currently have their bye week scheduled for Oct 31.

Not that its likely to affect KU, but, per the Big 12’s announcement, the conference will also have the flexibility to to move back the Big 12 championship game, currently scheduled for Dec 5, back to either Dec 12 or even Dec 19.

So, KU’s schedule will apparently look like this:

Aug 29 - Southern Illinois

Sept 5 - OFF

Sept 12 - @ Baylor

Sept 19 - OFF

Sept 26 - OFF

Oct 3 - Iowa State

Oct 10 - @ Kansas State

Oct 17 - Oklahoma State

Oct 24 - @ West Virginia

Oct 31 - OFF

Nov 7 - Texas

Nov 14 - @ Texas Tech

Nov 21 - @ Oklahoma

Nov 28 - TCU

This is obviously not great for Kansas. While the matchup with Coastal Carolina looked to be winnable, Boston College was going to be a challenge even though KU went to Chestnut Hill last fall and blew the doors off the Eagles for three quarters. Odds are, Kansas just went from a two or three-win season to a one-win season, as KU will be an underdog in every game except SIU.

As for whether or not Kansas will actually play 10 games? Well, that’s probably a discussion all its own.