Kansas Football Bowl Projections: Odds For Jayhawks’ 2025-26 Bowl Game

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What started as a year full of promise is down to a razor’s edge in Lawrence, with the Kansas Jayhawks dropping a second straight contest against Iowa State in Ames on Saturday, dropping the program to 5-6 for the year.  

Kansas’ 24-point road loss to the Cyclones leaves the Jayhawks a win away from bowl eligibility with a final home game left on the docket, that being Friday’s 11 a.m. clash at Booth Memorial Stadium against No. 12 Utah.  

For the final time this season, the team at BetKansas.com has put together our latest batch of KU bowl projections, with this week’s potential stops in Fort Worth, Frisco, Shreveport and Dallas through 11 games in Lawrence. 

Stick with BetKansas.com for all of our Kansas sports betting insight throughout the college football season.

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Kansas Football Bowl Projections: Odds For Jayhawks’ 2025-26 Bowl Game

Bowl, Location 

Conference Opponent 

Odds 

Percentage Chance 

Armed Forces, Fort Worth 

vs. AAC/MWC/Sun Belt 

+210 

32.3% 

Frisco, Frisco, TX 

Vs. American/C-USA/MAC/Mountain West/Sun Belt 

+225 

30.8% 

No Bowl 

 

+350 

22.2% 

Independence, Shreveport, LA 

Vs. American 

+800 

11.1% 

First Responder, Dallas 

Vs. AAC/American  

+2900 

3.3% 

BetKansas.com has the best Kansas sports betting promo codes as fans await that rivalry clash.

Where Might Kansas Go This Bowl Season?

After KU’s road loss against Iowa State, it looks like a trip to Texas is increasingly likely this bowl season, with potential stops that include Fort Worth’s Armed Forces Bowl (+210), the Frisco Bowl (+225) and Dallas’ First Responder Bowl (+2900) dotted among the Jayhawks’ potential bowl season landing spots.  

Throw in the lone non-Texas bowl game, in Shreveport’s Independence Bowl at +800 and you have this week’s latest KU bowl game odds covered, as Leipold looks to get his team back on track ahead of the Jayhawks’ final road trip of the 2025 season. 

Given KU’s current [X-point] underdog status on DraftKings Sportsbook against Utah on Friday, the chance that the Jayhawks finish 5-7 is growing more likely by the week, which is why we have our ‘no bowl’ option up to +350 this week.  

Looking back, KU’s last bowl game in Fort Worth was in 2005, when head coach Mark Mangino capped off a 7-5 season in Lawrence with a 42-13 romp over Houston. Kansas’ last trip to the Independence Bowl berth was way back in 1973 as a member of the Big 8, while Kansas’ last Liberty Bowl appearance came in 2022 against Arkansas, ending in a 55-53 shootout loss.   

While KU has never played in Dallas’ First Responder Bowl or the Frisco Bowl, the program has made two postseason trips to the Lone Star State, in the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl and the 1961 Bluebonnet Bowl, which KU won over Rice, 33-7, in Houston.  

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Kansas Bowl Game History Since 2005

Year 

Bowl 

Result 

2023 

Guaranteed Rate Bowl 

Win, 49-36 vs. UNLV 

2022 

Liberty Bowl 

Loss, 55-53 vs. Arkansas 

2008 

Insight Bowl 

Win, 42-21 vs. Minnesota 

2007 

Orange Bowl 

Win, 24-21 vs. Virginia Tech 

2005 

Fort Worth Bowl 

Win, 24-13 vs. Houston 

All in all, KU’s recent bowl game history is thin, with five postseason trips since 2005. But the Jayhawks went 4-1 in those games, with victories over UNLV (49-36 in the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl), Minnesota (42-21 in the 2008 Insight Bowl), Virginia Tech (24-21 in the 2007 Orange Bowl) and Houston (in the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl).

USA Today photo by Evert Nelson.

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Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetKansas.com specializing in covering state issues. He covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years.

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