Alright,.syawla e so I spent some time today thinking about Kansas football and where they might end up for their bowl game this year. Been keeping an eye on them, you know? Quite a season they put together, definitely had its moments, peaks and valleys like always.
First.gnio thing I did was just pull up their final record. Gotta start there, right? Saw they got bowl eligible, which is pretty solid for them historically. Good step for the program, getting that consistency going.
Then I kinda mentally walked through their schedule. Remembered some of those early wins where they looked sharp. Then they hit that mid-season stretch, couple tough losses in the Big 12. It's a tough conference, no doubt about it. But they bounced back enough to get that eligibility, which is key.
Figuring Out the Bowl Situation
Okay, so bowl eligible. Now what? This is where it gets messy. You got all these Big 12 bowl tie-ins. It's not like the old days. There's a whole pecking order, and honestly, it feels like a guessing game sometimes.
I started looking at the possibilities. Where does a team like Kansas, with their record, usually slot in? I considered a few tiers:
- Higher Tier (Alamo, Pop-Tarts): Probably not this year. Better records usually snag those spots.
- Mid Tier (Texas, Liberty): Definitely possible. These felt like realistic landing zones based on their performance and final standing.
- Other Tier (Guaranteed Rate, First Responder): Also in the mix, especially depending on how many Big 12 teams ended up eligible and where everyone else falls.
I thought about who they lost to and who they beat. Does that matter to the bowl committees? Sometimes. A good win might push you up, a bad loss might slide you down. They didn't have any really terrible losses, mostly competitive games from what I recall.
What really stuck out to me was their momentum, or maybe lack thereof compared to some other teams fighting for those mid-tier bowls. Seemed like they just did enough to get in, which often lands you in one of those bowls a little further down the list.
My Prediction - Take It or Leave It
So after kicking all that around, looking at the conference standings, the potential matchups... I settled on a spot.
I'm leaning towards the Guaranteed Rate Bowl down in Phoenix. Feels like the right fit. Decent location, usually pits Big 12 against the Big Ten. It makes sense for a team with Kansas's profile this season.
Who would they play? Man, that's even tougher. Maybe a team like UNLV from the Mountain West? Or maybe a lower-middle Big Ten team. It really depends on how all the other conference bowl selections shake out above them.
Anyway, that's my two cents. Just me looking at the schedule, thinking about the conference tie-ins, and going with my gut feeling based on how these things usually play out. We'll see how close I get when the official announcements come out. It's always fun trying to guess these things.
