There are a lot of feel-good stories around college football right now, especially when it comes to a handful of undefeated teams that shocked expectations.
You’ve got the 4-0 Syracuse Orange with wins over Purdue and Virginia.
There’s 4-0 Washington cruising to victory over Michigan State and Stanford.
Ole Miss, Minnesota, and Florida State are all 4-0 unexpectedly, too.
And then there’s the Kansas Jayhawks, who are 4-0 for the first time since 2009 after their win over previously unbeaten Duke on Saturday. They also did so in front of a sold-out crowd as the excitement over Jawhawks football reaches heights only previously seen when the program had a magical run to the Orange Bowl in 2007.
Many around college football were expecting to see Kansas show up in the polls on Sunday given their success on the field. However, while many of the aforementioned teams showed up in the Coaches Poll, the Jayhawks were not among them, coming in with enough votes to be in 27th place. There was still hope that they’d break through in the AP Poll but Kansas came up just short, leading the way for “Others Receiving Votes” just outside of the Top 25.
While you could certainly make the case that Kansas still has to prove they can compete with the big boys, it would have been a pretty fun honor to get the rankings nod. That they didn’t get ranked rankled a lot of people around the college football world.
The only reason Kansas isn't ranked is because it's Kansas. That's it. If it were an SEC team with the same resume and performance it'd be in the top 10.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) September 25, 2022
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1574102164670234624
Kansas has beaten West Virginia on the road by 13, Houston on the road by 18 and previously unbeaten Duke by 8. This isn't a charity case. Kansas has legitimately been one of the top 25 teams in the country this season, and it's not that close.
— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) September 25, 2022
Kansas did not make the new AP top 25…
…because Kansas State grabbed the No. 25 spot. pic.twitter.com/S9xmj7brGU
— Max Olson (@max_olson) September 25, 2022
Honestly an absolute joke that Kansas isn’t ranked & the ONLY reason they aren’t is because it’s Kansas Football. It’s disrespectful & im kinda glad they aren’t cause this should have the fellas hungry & ready to go even more on Saturday
— Braiden Turner (@bturner23) September 25, 2022
Kansas hosts Iowa State on Saturday and, if they win and move to 5-0, it will be hard to argue they don’t deserve to be ranked at that point, no matter what the name on the front of the jersey says.
[AP, CBS Sports]
