Kansas blew Oklahoma State's doors off the last time these two played. The rosters, staffs and quarterbacks on both sidelines will look almost nothing alike by the time they meet again in Stillwater.
Bush’s Picks
KUOKST
KUOKST
OverUnder
Best BetKansas
Kansas gets the moneyline nod here, even with a wide-open quarterback competition, because Oklahoma State is still rebuilding through the portal under a first-year staff. The Jayhawks already have Kotelnicki's offense installed and know what beating this program looks like. Backing Oklahoma State outright means betting a brand-new roster gets it right before it's proven anything against FBS competition.
Kansas
+Beat Oklahoma State 38-21 in last season's meeting
+Andy Kotelnicki returns to run a proven offense
+Portal WRs Cox and McMillan add 102 combined catches
−Starting QB job still unresolved entering the fall
−Lost Jalon Daniels, the engine of last year's comeback
−Entire starting defensive line needs replacing
Oklahoma State
+Eric Morris imports the nation's top-scoring offense
+Drew Mestemaker led all of FBS in passing yards and TDs
+New staff continuity with OC Sean Brophy from North Texas
−Coming off a 20-game losing streak vs FBS foes
−Roster largely rebuilt via portal with unproven chemistry
−Preseason projections still have OSU missing bowl eligibility
Oklahoma State's whole approach got a facelift this offseason. New coach Eric Morris arrives from North Texas, where his offense led the nation in scoring, and he brought his quarterback with him — Drew Mestemaker, who led all of FBS with 4,379 passing yards and 34 touchdowns last season. Kansas, meanwhile, is still figuring out who lines up behind center. Jalon Daniels is gone, and Cole Ballard holds a slight edge over Isaiah Marshall in a battle head coach Lance Leipold says remains open through fall camp.
The supporting cast matters just as much. Kansas brought back Andy Kotelnicki to run the offense — the same coordinator who had the Jayhawks humming from 2021 to 2023 — and added transfer receivers Nahzae Cox and Nik McMillan, who combined for 102 catches at their old schools last season. Oklahoma State's rebuild goes deeper than the quarterback room too, with Morris importing much of his North Texas staff, including offensive coordinator Sean Brophy, to install the same up-tempo system that got Mestemaker to a conference title game.
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KU Kansas
OKST Oklahoma State
It's worth remembering how lopsided this series went the last time these two met. Kansas beat Oklahoma State 38-21 on November 1 last year, with Daniels engineering four second-half touchdown drives to pull away. That version of Kansas doesn't exist anymore, and neither does the Oklahoma State team that lost that game — the Cowboys enter this one having gone winless against FBS competition a season ago, which is exactly why Stillwater blew up its coaching staff and quarterback room.
Kansas Jayhawks
Nov 20?vs BYU—
Nov 13?@ West Virginia—
Nov 6?vs UCF—
Oct 30?@ TCU—
Oct 16?@ Kansas State—
Oct 9?@ Utah—
Oct 2?vs Middle Tennessee—
Sep 19?vs Arizona State—
Sep 11?vs Missouri—
Sep 4?vs Long Island University—
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Nov 20?@ Arizona State—
Nov 13?vs Texas Tech—
Nov 6?@ Kansas State—
Oct 30?@ Iowa State—
Oct 16?@ Houston—
Oct 9?vs UCF—
Sep 25?@ West Virginia—
Sep 19?vs Murray State—
Sep 12?vs Oregon—
Sep 5?@ Tulsa—
Recent form.
Kansas' defense has its own questions to answer by then. The Jayhawks lose their entire starting defensive line, leaning on returners Leroy Harris and Blake Herlod along with transfers Tre'von McAlpine and Alex Bray to fill the gaps, with linebacker Trey Lathan asked to hold it together as the unit's clear leader. Add in a Big 12 schedule that sends Kansas to London to face Arizona State, and the version of this team that shows up in Stillwater on Friday, November 27 could look very different from the one that opens fall camp.
Oklahoma State's bar is lower and clearer: beat the teams it's supposed to beat and prove last year's collapse was an aberration, not a preview of where the program is headed. Win or lose, this is a measuring-stick spot for both staffs — proof of concept for Morris' rebuild, and a look at whether Leipold's Jayhawks can finally turn a talented roster into a bowl bid.
