Overlooked, unranked Kansas will be impossible to ignore if they beat Iowa State

A home win over the Iowa State Cyclones will be undeniably massive for Lance Leipold’s Kansas Jayhawks football program.

The 4-0 Kansas Jayhawks are one win away from doing the impossible: Cracking the AP Top 25!

Kansas was the first team out this past week, receiving 125 votes. The Jayhawks were only 41 votes shy of tying in-state rival Kansas State for the No. 25 spot. Of course, K-State absolutely earned that right to be No. 25 by beating a top-10 Oklahoma Sooners team in Norman last week. The Wildcats have their quarterback in Adrian Martinez, but KU has Lance Leipold leading the way.

Should the Jayhawks beat Iowa State at home in Week 5, there is no way the Associated Press will deny KU what is rightfully theirs: A spot inside of the AP Top 25. Of course, a win over Iowa State will mean much, much more than what meets the eye for even the most diehard of college football fans. It means a changing of tides in the Big 12, and maybe coaching carousel movement…

Here is why this is about to be the biggest football game in Lawrence since the Mark Mangino era.

A win over Iowa State should have Kansas appearing inside the AP Top 25 Poll

Entering Week 5, there are only three undefeated teams in the Big 12: Oklahoma State, Kansas and TCU. While Oklahoma State is the No. 9 team in the country, they have to play the reigning Big 12 champion Baylor Bears at their place on Saturday. No. 16 Baylor already has a loss to BYU on the year. TCU may get to play at home, but a desperate No. 18 Oklahoma team is coming to town.

Thus, Kansas has the easiest opponent of the three undefeated teams in the Big 12. Even if Iowa State is unranked, a win should propel the Jayhawks into the top 25, probably somewhere into the 20s. That is great and all, but Leipold and his boys are wanting way more. Most importantly, it sets in motion a sea change of sorts in the Big 12 going forward, potentially impacting both programs.

Prior to Matt Campbell arriving in Ames, Iowa State was a Big 12 bottom-feeder along with Kansas. Over the course of the last half-decade or so, Campbell has transformed the Cyclones into a consistent top-four team in the conference. The Clones win about eight games a year. While they did not win the Big 12 in 2020, they still got to the Fiesta Bowl and beat the Oregon Ducks.

Factor in Campbell finally tasting victory in CyHawk, and he essentially has nothing left to prove at Iowa State. With the Nebraska vacancy open, one could argue that Campbell is the perfect man to lead the Cornhuskers beginning in 2023. It is a tough job, but so is Iowa State. He will have better resources in Lincoln. If he sees Kansas is about to become a wagon under Leipold, he could leave.

Of course, Leipold is on the shortlist of candidates for the job at UNL, too. Then again, he is in the early stages of the breakthrough year in Lawrence, so he might want to ride this wave out a bit. Why wouldn’t he? We all realize how insanely difficult it is to win big at a place like Kansas. It has been a decade and a half of nothing short of total garbage prior to Leipold’s Lawrencian arrival.

Ultimately, Kansas is on the precipice of being the new Iowa State. If that is the case, then who becomes the new Big 12 cellar dweller? West Virginia? One of the four teams joining the league next year? Regardless, most people thought Kansas’ upward ceiling this season was 4-8. The Jayhawks are not only guaranteed to at least achieve that, but they could be its inverse at 8-4.

A win over Iowa State will put Kansas into the AP Top 25 and will make them a Big 12 contender.

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