Big X(II) Breakdown: The Kansas Jayhawks

The Big X(II) Breakdown rolls into Kansas this week…If you missed the first two weeks check out Baylor and Iowa State.

The Jayhawks, the team that I least wanted to write about, have run into some trouble the past week or so. It started last week when incoming running back Dreamius Smith failed to pass his ACT, and therefore will not be able to attend Kansas this fall. Although, I do not know the exact score needed for athletes at the school. I do know that students in-state (Smith is from Wichita) either need a 21 on the ACT or a 2.0 GPA in high school. Notice that I did not say “and”, all you need to get into a state school in Kansas is a C average. Nobody really knows if he would have made an impact this year or in the future. Then, on Thursday Quarterback recruit Brock Burglund got arrested at his home in Colorado for assault. This is the same guy who said that his skill sets are a combination of Tim Tebow, Michael Vick, and Peyton Manning.

The 2010 Jayhawks opened their season losing 6-3 at home to FCS opponent North Dakota State. They bounced back by beating a (then) ranked Georgia Tech team and promptly rushed the field. There was a lot of losing after that point of the season, until they had a home game against Colorado. Down 45-17 early in the 4th Quarter, the Jayhawks exploded for 35 points in 11 minutes including a 30 yard touchdown run with less than a minute left to win 52-45. Dan Hawkins was promptly fired.

The Kansas offense this season should be better, but not even really good this season. The Jayhawks only managed to score 20 points three time last season, and were in the bottom twenty in offensive production. QB Jordan Webb and RB James Sims will both be back to play their sophomore seasons and you could see some impressive growth from the backfield. The defense was equally as awful last season, and shouldn’t be much better. Last years team gave up 34 per game, and many of those games could have been by a lot more.

More on the Jayhawks, including schedule after the jump….

The 2011 Kansas Schedule

9/3 vs McNeese St.

9/10 vs Northern Illinois

9/17 @ Georgia Tech

10/1 vs Texas Tech

10/8 @ Oklahoma State

10/15 vs Oklahoma

10/22 vs Kansas State

10/29 @ Texas

11/5 @ Iowa State

11/12 vs Baylor

11/19 @ Texas A&M

11/26 vs Missouri (in Kansas City)

Similar to what I said about Iowa State, this schedule will not be easy what so ever for the Jayhawks. They will be very lucky to even get one conference win. All the wins that they will get will be at home.

Expected Wins: McNeese State, Northern Illinois

Expected Losses: Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, Missouri

Swing Games: Texas Tech, Kansas State, Iowa State

Best Case Scenario: 4-8 (2-7)

More Realistically: 2-10 (0-9)

This team should be the one you expect to see take the last spot in the Big 12. When Missouri plays Kansas it always scares me, no matter how bad they are and how good we are. So the game at Arrowhead will be as fun as always.

Next Week: The Kansas State Wildcats

(Also, Big 12 Media Days posts coming soon!)