Kansas faces perhaps its toughest challenge of the Big 12 season right out of the chute when it travels to Ames to take on fellow contenders Iowa State. Thanks to a mild quirk in the schedule, Kansas gets the Cyclones twice in the first seven games, meaning they have an opportunity to get a huge leg up on the rest of the league with two wins over Iowa State.
Kansas probably lucks out in playing Iowa State so early for a pair of reasons. First, it is still winter break in Ames, and while there will certainly be students there, there will be fewer than there would be for a game next month (of course, it wasn’t a student who attempted to assault Bill Self).