Best Case Scenario for the Jayhawks in 2023: 2 Days Until Kansas Football

To counteract yesterday's negativity, we look at the best possible results for the Kansas Jayhawks this season.

Contents

1. Friday, September 1st vs Missouri State
2. Friday, September 8th vs Illinois
3. Saturday, September 16th at Nevada
4. Saturday, September 23rd vs BYU
5. Saturday, September 30th at Texas
6. Saturday, October 7th vs UCF
7. Saturday, October 14th at Oklahoma State
8. Saturday, October 21st vs Oklahoma
9. Saturday, November 4th at Iowa State
10. Saturday, November 11th vs Texas Tech
11. Saturday, November 18th vs Kansas State
12. Saturday, November 25th at Cincinnati
13. Saturday, December 2nd Big 12 Championship Game
14. Overall Thoughts

Yesterday was the worst article of the entire countdown, where I have to force myself to be as pessimistic as possible and actively search for ways that things can go wrong. But that one is out of the way and we can instead focus on everything good that we've seen over the last few months.

So with that in mind, let's take a look at just how good things might be for the Kansas Jayhawks this season. A reminder that this scenario will not assume any sort of injuries or other suspensions/absences for key players, but other than that everything is on the table.

Friday, September 1st vs Missouri State

The Jayhawks used a strong opening win as a springboard for the first part of the season. And as Brendan mentioned in today's Walkthrough Wednesday, this is a team picked to finish towards the bottom of the Missouri Valley Conference. Kansas should have no problems in this game, and the only question is how many points the Bears are going to score in garbage time.

Best Case Prediction: 55-10 Win (1-0)

Friday, September 8th vs Illinois

The Fighting Illini had a great defense last season, but their defensive coordinator is now at Purdue and they lost some pieces that were at least somewhat significant. Add in that they are bringing in a quarterback with a very limited track record to an offense that struggled and it's reasonable to think that they may take some time to get the offense running. But Kansas won't need any more time to warm up.

Best Case Prediction: 42-21 Win (2-0)

Saturday, September 16th at Nevada

The Wolfpack are not a good team. Even though this one is on the road, they aren't even close to what Houston and West Virginia were last year, and Kansas will be better this year.

Best Case Prediction: 35-17 Win (3-0)

Saturday, September 23rd vs BYU

Kedon Slovis left Pitt for a reason, and BYU has enough stuff missing to make his transition a rocky one. And the Cougars already had some big issues on the defensive end, which aren't going to be helped by being in their first game against Big 12 competition.

Best Case Prediction: 52-21 Win (4-0)

Saturday, September 30th at Texas

I wish I could say that this one is a shoe-in, but we all saw what the Longhorns did to the Jayhawks last year. The best hope for Kansas is that Texas is still trying to gel and that Jalon Daniels was really just that beat up coming back from his injury. But given that they lost last time the Jayhawks came to visit, I have a hard time imagining they will take them lightly.

Best Case Prediction: 41-31 Loss (4-1)

Saturday, October 7th vs UCF

UCF may be good, but they are taking a huge step up in competition this season. And facing the Jayhawks after going on the road to Kansas State and hosting Baylor and right before heading to Norman to take on Oklahoma, it's not hard to imagine that they overlook the Jayhawks a bit. But Kansas has an offense that they can't take for granted, and they'll make it known here.

Best Case Prediction: 42-31 Win (5-1)

Saturday, October 14th at Oklahoma State

Way too many people assume that Oklahoma State is going to be just fine this year, but with so much turnover, I'm just not sure. Spencer Sanders is no longer there, and the injury-prone Alan Bowman is taking over. And Jason Bean torched the defense last season, so it's not hard to imagine that Daniels can do the same this year.

Best Case Prediction: 42-28 Win (6-1)

Saturday, October 21st vs Oklahoma

Oklahoma is still a program in transition, as they try to live up to the defensive reputation of their head coach. Add in an up and down Dillon Gabriel from last season, and it is easy to think that they might struggle at times. Plus, the Jayhawks are at home in this one, something that should work in their favor.

Best Case Prediction: 35-31 Win (7-1)

Saturday, November 4th at Iowa State

The Iowa State defense is still phenomenal. But the loss of their best running back and starting quarterback to a gambling scandal is a huge deal. The offense was abysmal last year, and there wasn't nearly enough change, especially on the offensive line, for me to think they are going to magically figure it out.

Best Case Prediction: 31-17 Win (8-1)

Saturday, November 11th vs Texas Tech

Texas Tech is a media darling as a dark horse for a good reason, but they still need to actually put it all together. The Jayhawks went toe-to-toe with the Red Raiders last year, but in this scenario they are at full strength and at home. Jalon Daniels is going to be able to pick the Red Raider defense apart, and the defense should be able to hold up at least a couple times to take the win.

Best Case Prediction: 41-38 Win (9-1)

Saturday, November 18th vs Kansas State

The Wildcats are going to be good this year, and as it stands right now, they have a great team. But the Jayhawks have a long time to gel that defense, the game will be sold out, and Jalon Daniels could easily be working on a Heisman campaign at this point. At their very best, Kansas is better than Kansas State. And in a best case scenario, we can assume they hit it.

Best Case Prediction: 28-24 Win (10-1)

Saturday, November 25th at Cincinnati

Cincinnati is in the middle of a huge transition, and there are enough questions that it isn't possible to see them beating a Kansas team on a roll..

Best Case Prediction: 52-14 Win (11-1)

Saturday, December 2nd Big 12 Championship Game

The Jayhawks get a second chance to beat the Longhorns in their final season, and while Arlington isn't Austin, it is still a huge advantage for the Longhorns. I expect the game to be close, but Kansas will have to hope for a good bowl after a second loss to Texas.

Best Case Prediction: 42-38 Loss (11-2)

Overall Thoughts

Wow that was a bit crazy, even for me. I don't actually expect this to play out this way, but this scenario highlights just how high the ceiling is for the Jayhawks this year. Kansas has an electric offense and the pieces to put together a good defense. A perfect game for the Jayhawks can win them any game on the schedule except the Texas one without the opponent messing something up significantly.

Tomorrow we'll give our realistic predictions, so make sure to come back and see how our staff really thinks the season will go.

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