Friday Fast Facts

—

Friday Fast Facts – Kansas Week

—

Leading off … 

— “T.I.P.S” … Our weekly preview postings are available for your review and comment. My weekly written preview, along with my predictions for CU’s trip to Arrowhead Stadium to face Kansas can be found here. The CU at the Game Podcast Review/Preview, looking back at the Utah game, and previewing the Kansas game, can be found at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify … and … the podcast can also be found here.

—

The Big Picture …

— Big Time Recruit … CU may have already won the week, with the announcement Wednesday by five-star quarterback Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis that he was committing to Colorado. Not only is Lewis one of the highest-rated commits in CU history (up there with Travis Hunter, Jordan Seaton, and, well, Cormani McClain and Darrell Scott), but it helps ease the concerns within the Buff Nation that Coach Prime might leave Boulder after this season. Never say never – Lewis could change his mind in the next two weeks before Signing Day, and Coach Prime could still leave – but the commitment is a very positive sign on both fronts. Check out Ju Ju’s bio under the “CU Recruiting Class of 2025” heading;

— A perfect dozen … With the CU/Oklahoma State game (Black Friday in Boulder, a 10:00 a.m., MT, kickoff) having been preselected as an ABC telecast this summer, all 12 of CU’s regular season games will be shown on national television (six by Fox, three on ESPN, one each for ABC, CBS and NBC). This makes the University of Colorado the only program in the country to have all 12 of its regulars season games shown on a national network.

— No more sell outs?  … The Utah game last weekend sold out the day before the game, raising the totals to 20 sellouts in the 22-game Coach Prime era. But … the Utah game may be CU’s last sell out of the season.

The Kansas game most definitely will not be sold out. The game is at Arrowhead, and there will be thousands, if not tens of thousands, empty seats. Check out the seat map here.

The Oklahoma State game, at 10:00 a.m., MT, on Black Friday, is on its way to being a sell out, but isn’t there yet. The seat map still shows several hundred empty seats in Folsom.

— The ESPN Power Index … has favored the Buffs for most of the second half of the season, but is predicting a close game against Kansas. Last weekend, the ESPN Power Index gave CU a 75% chance of winning. This weekend, the Buffs are given a straight up 54.6% chance of victory, with Utah given a 45.4% chance of an upset;

— The game will be telecast nationally by Fox, with Kevin Kugler on the play-by-play, Brock Huard on color, and Allison Williams on the sidelines. Good omen? … This broadcasting trio for Fox also called CU road games against UCF and Arizona, both big CU victories …  850 KOA radio will have Mark Johnson with the play-by-play, and former CU head coach Gary Barnett as the analyst.

—

CU & Kansas … on the field … 

— This will be the 71st meeting between the two schools, in a series which dates back to 1903. CU leads the rivalry, 42-25-3, with this weekend’s game being just the second not played in Lawrence or Boulder (a 15-0 win for the Buffs in a game played in Denver in 1904);

— The 71 games in the series is the fourth-most games for any CU opponent, behind only CSU (93); Missouri (75); and Nebraska (73).  The 42 wins by the Buffs over the Jayhawks are the fourth most for CU over any Division I/FBS program, behind only Colorado State (69), Iowa State (49), and Kansas State (45) and Kansas (42);

— Colorado had a nice run of wins between 1985-94, picking up ten straight wins. As members of the Big 12 (games played since 1996), the Buffs have a 9-6 advantage;

— In half (21 of 42) of the wins over KU, the Buffs have scored 30 or more points including 15 games of 35 or more points;

— The most recent meeting between the two teams was memorable. In 2010, in a game played in Lawrence, the Buffs had a 45-17 lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but still managed to lose, 52-45. The worst “come-from-ahead” loss in school history sent the reeling Buffs to a 3-6 record overall, and their first 0-5 start in conference play since the 1979 Buffs started Big Eight play with an 0-5 record. It was also the last game of the five-year head coaching run for Dan Hawkins, with Hawkins being fired on the way home to Boulder. The “52-45 Game Story“, if you are interested, can be found here. My Essay for the game, “Dead Dan Walking“, can be found here.

—

Colorado & Kansas … historical … 

— In the 12 statistical categories tracked by Winsipedia, Kansas leads Colorado in only one category … bowl game winning percentage (and even that is close. CU is at .400, 8-12; while Utah is at .462, 6-7);

— Otherwise, the all-time stats are not  favorable for the Jayhawks. Kansas is one of only 11 Power Four programs which has an all-time losing record. The Jayhawks are at .607-687-58, .470, which is 111th nationally in all-time winning percentage (CU is 45th, at .470 … 731-546-36);

— Other stats which demonstrate how far Kansas has been from the national spotlight during most of its history:

• Weeks in the Associated Press poll: CU, 312 … Kansas, 118;
• Consensus All-Americans: CU, 32 … Kansas, 5;
• NFL draft picks: CU, 276 … Kansas 171; and, of course
• National championships and Heisman trophy winners: CU, 1 each … Kansas, 0 in both categories.

—

Stats Worth Noting …

— Battle of the Sixes … CU is sixth in the nation in sacks; KU is sixth in the nation in fewest sacks allowed. Something will have to give on Saturday;

— Points aplenty? … Colorado is third in the Big 12 in scoring, at 34.1 points per game, but Kansas is not all that far behind, at 30.2 points per game;

— Strength v. Strength … One stat which has largely fueled the Kansas renaissance in the second half of the season is third-down conversions. Kansas currently leads the Big 12 in third-down conversion rate, picking up first downs almost half the time (49.6%). The Colorado defense, meanwhile, is making a name for itself by stopping teams on third downs. The Buffs are fourth in the Big 12 in preventing third down conversions, giving up first downs only 37% of the time;

— Penalties – Yea or Nay? … When CU takes the field, the flags come out. The Buffs have been flagged 75 times, 112th nationally, but also are good at drawing flags, with opponents being flagged 76 times.

Meanwhile … Kansas has been penalized only 47 times, 16th fewest in the nation, while KU opponents have only had 43 flags thrown against them.

— CU has six wins two-plus scores (9-plus points) just the fourth time this century. The other seasons with six wins by two scores; 2001, 2002, and 2016.

—

Player Notes …

— Shedeur Sanders is the first Big 12 quarterback to throw for at least 240 yards in 10+ games in a single season since 2018, when Kyler Murray and Taylor Cornelius both did it in 11 games;

— CU’s defense has made tremendous strides as a unit this fall. The Buffs lead the Big 12 in sacks, tackles for loss, fumble recoveries, and is one of four teams nationally with 10 or more interceptions and fumble recoveries;

— Against Utah, Travis Hunter became the first FBS or NFL player to have a game with 50+ receiving yards, a rushing touchdown and an interception since Champ Bailey for Washington against Arizona on December 24, 2000.

—

Big 12 Notes …

— Four Big 12 teams ranked … BYU (No. 14); Colorado (No. 16); Arizona State (No. 21) and Iowa State (No. 22) are the only Big 12 teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 this week. Kansas State, which had been ranked all season, dropped out after losing to Arizona State last weekend (Kansas State comes in at No. 28 this week);

In the third College Football Rankings of the 2024 season, the Big 12 rankings are identical to the : No. 14 BYU; No. 16 Colorado; No. 21 Arizona State; and No. 22 Iowa State;

— Revisiting the Big 12 preseason media poll (Week 13) … Conference records for the top and bottom five (as selected by the Big 12 media):

Top 5  in the preseason poll: Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Arizona: 22-28; K-State (7-3) is the only team of the five with a winning record;
Bottom 5 in the preseason poll: Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Arizona State: 32-18; Houston (4-6) is the only team with a losing record;

— Big 12 lines …

From Draftkings.com …

Big 12 lines

Saturday, November 23rd 

• Arizona at TCU … 1:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … TCU is an 12.0-point home favorite … up from 11.5-points on Sunday …
• No. 16 Colorado at Kansas … 1:30 p.m., FOX … Kansas is a 2.5-point home underdog … same as Sunday …
• No. 14 BYU at No. 21 Arizona State … 1:30 p.m., MT, ESPN … Arizona State is a 3.0-point home favorite … down from 3.5-points on Sunday …
• Texas Tech at Oklahoma State … 1:30 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … Oklahoma State is a 3.5-point home underdog … same as Sunday …
• UCF at West Virginia … 1:30 p.m., MT, ESPNU … West Virginia is a 3.0-point home underdog … same as Sunday …
• Baylor at Houston … 5:00 p.m., MT, FS1 … Houston is an 8.0-point home underdog … same as Sunday …
• No. 22 Iowa State at Utah … 5:30 p.m., MT, Fox … Utah is a 7.0-point home underdog … up from 6.5-points on Sunday …
• Cincinnati at Kansas State … 6:00 p.m., MT, ESPN2 … Kansas State is an 8.5-point home favorite … same as Sunday …

–

—–

This post, about the Kansas game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment.