Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - RUBBISH: Kansas Jayhawks' RISKY London, England Venture vs Arizona St. | Is This a MASSIVE Mistake?

Starting point is 00:00:00 There's a report out there that KU might be playing in London. Doesn't sound like it's finalized yet, but I'm going to tell you why this is a really, really dumb idea for KU. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on, Derek Johnson? This is Locked on Jayhawks, a little bonus. episode for you here. Thanks to joining us. Thank you the Everdaeers. Thank you for catching us

Starting point is 00:00:33 anywhere you get your podcast and or on our YouTube page. And on today's bonus episode, there's a report out there that Kansas might be playing Arizona State in London, England in 26. And I'm going to tell you why I think this is kind of a dumb idea. I will finish up the episode talking about, I guess, some of the positives you could read into if you did want to look at this as glass half full, but I'm going to go through the reasons why I don't think this is a good idea for KU. And honestly, like, I wouldn't be happy about this if I was Lance Leibold. We'll get into why in a moment here. Let's start with the news. This comes from Scott Hamilton at Post and Courier, which you might be thinking, what is that? Well, that's, I don't know, it says on Twitter,

Starting point is 00:01:14 they have like 160,000 followers on Twitter. They are South Carolina's oldest news source. So very old newspaper in South Carolina. And he wrote an article this morning called London Calling, college football headed to Wembley Stadium. And in that article, he writes, The Post and Courier has learned that Arizona State and Kansas will play in London next year. It's part of a multi-year deal for an event called the Union Jack Classic. That first game is scheduled for September 19th, 2026.

Starting point is 00:01:44 Keep that day in mind, an iconic Wembley Stadium. Now, if you're wondering, what is Wembley Stadium? It's basically the giant stadium that hosts the English, meant soccer team. I don't know if they play some of their Premier League games there, but they host like the English national team. And it holds like 90,000 people. It's beautiful stadium, big arena, stuff like that. Now, it is important to remember this. Michael Swain, who does great

Starting point is 00:02:04 work over at fog.net. He tweeted this out, you know, a little bit ago. He said he posted a story on Kansas potentially playing Arizona State in London next year. And it is important to note that on this, and again, Swain is the local guy here. This report, more of, I guess, you would view as a national report. So I'm trusting Swain. Wayne's reporting here, but he says, I'm told it is not a done deal yet and there are still

Starting point is 00:02:26 details being worked on. So that does tell you that, yes, this is not something that's ironed out. Now, it is important to note is like, what does that mean necessarily in terms of is it not fully ironed out? Are there still details to be worked on because it's going to happen? It's just they have to figure out a couple details. For instance, like I said, this game is supposed to be in that initial report, September 19th, 2026. You know what else is on September 19th, 2026. That's when Kansas is supposed to be hosting middle Tennessee state. So like that could be a detail for instance of, hey, we have to push the middle Tennessee state game back or we have to cancel the game and pay them a buyout or something. I don't know. Like that could be one of those

Starting point is 00:03:04 details or is it details need to be ironed out because for instance, like if I was landslide, well, if I was, um, you know, one of the coaches on either Arizona state or Kansas staff, I would be pushing back to this. I wouldn't want to be playing a game in London, England, in the middle of the season with the travel repercussions for that one, right? Is it not finalized because there's a little pushback and it might not actually happen or, and this being floated out there to the media is kind of a tester to see what the reaction is going to be to the game to be like, oh, people love it. Let's do it.

Starting point is 00:03:34 Or is this again, just, hey, they're just ironing out the details and it will get done eventually. That is kind of the big question there. But I think this is incredibly dumb. I think this is stupid for, not just KU. Like, I think this is stupid for Arizona State, too, to be clear. for like three or four big reasons. It does not set you up for success afterwards. Having to travel that far away, especially in season,

Starting point is 00:03:59 at this point you're talking about week three of the season, which is really week four because of week zero. That doesn't set you up for the best success in a season, especially the loser, which we've seen here recently. This is not week zero. It's in season. That makes it a dumber reason. Like I could get on board with that,

Starting point is 00:04:15 I think, a little more if it was week zero. It's losing a home campus game, which to this point, we haven't seen which team would be losing that home campus game. So that becomes kind of interesting. Would it be a loss of a home game for KU? Would it be a loss of a home game for Arizona State? I don't entirely know. Whichever fan base loses the home game is going to be a little more ticked off about it.

Starting point is 00:04:33 That's for sure. And it's a game that affects the Big 12 standings. I think you get on more aboard with this too. If it was like a non-con game, it's kind of like that exhibition feel. It's a Big 12 game. It counts to the Big 12 standings, right? And it's the week after the Missouri game. That does not bode well for K.

Starting point is 00:04:49 So I want to get more into some of those and some more stuff of why I think this is dumb. Next, this is Locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by DoorDash. It's almost the weekend. Time to look back and crown this week's MVP on Who Delivered. Powered by DoorDash, just like you can win every Saturday with DoorDash streaks, saving more every time you order. These players delivered when it mattered most.

Starting point is 00:05:14 Let's break it down. I'm going to see a buy week this past week for KU football. But let's go back to that Missouri game for KU. I mean, Deshaun Hanukah delivered in a big way for Kansas. Two touchdowns in the game. He was awesome. It comes into this week rated the number one tight end in the big 12 on pro football focus to this point.

Starting point is 00:05:33 And when the pressure's on, he's just seemed to kind of come through for KU. I think he dropped his first reception attempt of the year against Fresno State, probably was shaking the rust off, hadn't played in a real game since 2022. And since then, he has been nails. And just like Deshaun Hanukah delivered for the Jayhawks, DoorDash delivers your Saturdays. With DoorDash streaks, you save every time you have your order. Stack it up all season.

Starting point is 00:05:56 You can save up to $250, including $100 in DoorDash credits. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your game day only with DoorDash. Terms applied promo period through November 18th. I thanks for joining us on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. And again, thanks for making it your first listen every day. a little bonus episode for you here.

Starting point is 00:06:19 Check out our KU.S. Virginia preview. We've been talking a lot of West Virginia this week. We have plenty of content out there for that and I'll have another episode for that on Friday. But talking a little about this, Kansas, Arizona State possibility of a game in London. So let me go through many of the reasons why I think this is stupid, why I think this is dumb. And first of all, I've always said, like,

Starting point is 00:06:38 I think Brett Yormark has been an excellent addition for KU, or not KU, for the Big 12 in terms of being aggressive, being proactive, like under Bob Bowlesby and some of the past regimes, they were never proactive and it put them behind in the realignment game and where the conference was. And I think Yormark has been great in some of those areas and being creative with some of the things he wants to do. There are certain times that I feel like Brett Yormark has to kind of reel it in a little bit and sometimes goes too far. And this feels like one of those times. Just as the the basketball game that was going to be played in Mexico City, that was probably going a little too far. Just as like, I don't know, some of the stuff they've done like moving like media i don't know there there's certain things

Starting point is 00:07:18 that that i could gripe about but point being i think overall he's been good but this is one of those moments where i'm like can we have just like a like you know what you know what it is bray yormark is the the strength and conditioning coach on the sideline of a college football team that is like jacked he gets the team juiced up he's a really good strength and conditioning coach but every so often he needs that holdback guy because he's going to run on the field he's going to scream at a player. He needs a holdback guy holding him by the waist. Somebody needs to have that holdback guy job. Anyway, look at what has happened to the loser of, I know it's not this game. It's a different series, but similar game, the games that have happened in Ireland the

Starting point is 00:07:57 past two years. That's going to be continued on. I think actually Big 12 is going to be part of that next year. I can't remember. But you look at what happened to the loser. And I, you know, I understand that is like a little bit of a, I guess you could say is that a loser's mentality to be like, well, are you saying you're going to lose the game. No, I'm not necessarily saying that, but like, it just increases the risk if you do. I don't know if it has something to do with like, hey, you lost the game early in the season, you're down. Now you have this long travel. You're on a plane for a while. You're thinking about the game even more. Now your mentality is out to say, I don't know what it is. But Florida State came into the 2024 season as like a top 15 preseason team. They lost that game,

Starting point is 00:08:33 a close game to a good Georgia tech team. And then they finished two and 10. Kansas State so far this year has not over again they lost a close game to what's a good iowa state team so you would still think that okay they're going to be fine they have not been fine moving off of that game they almost lost to north dakota right that's not great they did lose to army and then they lost they're sitting at one and three on the season so the losers of these games and again that's ireland versus england but like the travel is pretty much going to be identical uh for k u and arizona state has not been very good and that was with both those games the ireland games being a week zero game where at the very least, you have the lead up to the season.

Starting point is 00:09:13 Like, you don't have a game before it where, hey, oh, now we're beat up from this game before it. And now we're going to travel on this long plane ride and that's just going to make it worse. We're going to be jellic. No, this is going to be in season. Like I said, September 19th, you play Missouri at home on September 12th. So you're going to go from playing your biggest rival at home, being beat up, emotionally and physically spent. And then all of a sudden, you're going to have to be like, hey, let's get on a, I guess what? It's like a three and a half hour plane ride from here to New York.

Starting point is 00:09:39 three hours, whatever you want to call it. And then from New York to, I guess you could fly Chicago to, but point being, I don't know, like six hours or something, you're looking at like nine-ish hours of flight time, give or take, maybe eight to ten hours. I don't know, somewhere in that range. For Kay, like, that is not going to be good for them, right? Especially coming off the game.

Starting point is 00:09:57 I could get more on board of this if it was week zero because you would have that around. Like, if you did week zero and then you had to buy the next week or you had an FCS team the next week, great. That's fine, right? That's what Iowa State did. They had an FCS game the next week. That's fine.

Starting point is 00:10:08 this is not that situation. I'm assuming KU would have a buy week after this, they better if they do this. Otherwise, that is even more of a colossal issue should this happen. Also, like I mentioned earlier, who would be losing a home game here? You know, that would be, that would suck for, I mean, if you have season tickets for your home team, whether it's an Arizona state fan or a Kansas fan,

Starting point is 00:10:30 that stinks if you lose a home game out of this. But beyond that, just from like the, again, if you're the coaching, if you're the coach, like you're sitting there going, man, I could have had a home field environment, a home field. And here's what scares me. Kansas played Arizona State last year at Arizona State. Does that mean, I know it doesn't always work this way, does that mean that in the rotation, they were going to be getting Arizona State at home to reverse back the home and home in

Starting point is 00:10:55 26? And would that mean, Kansas is the one that would be giving up the home game here. I don't know. I don't love that, obviously, from the season ticket perspective. I don't love it from an advantage perspective. right you're going to have a better home field advantage to try to win the game at your you know david booth kansas memorial stadium than you are at this game which is going to have a lot of neutral observers speaking of neutral observers the stadium holds 90 000 people is this actually going to get filled up with 90 000 people for arizona state in kansas or is this going to be a situation like last year kansas playing at arrowhead where they actually had pretty good turnout but because the stadium was so huge it didn't look that way right you could get 60 000 people into this thing but holding 90,000 people, it's going to feel semi-empty, and it's not going to be a great environment for a college football game.

Starting point is 00:11:44 Maybe I'll be wrong there. If they fill it out, that would be awesome. But I don't know. That's kind of a question I have. And just in general, can we just stick with playing college football games on college football campuses? My goodness. And again, like I said, I actually could get more on board with this if it was a week zero game.

Starting point is 00:12:00 I could get more on board with this if this was a non-conference week zero game. But for it to be a conference game in the middle. of the season. After you play Missouri, I absolutely hate that. So make it a week zero game, play an FCS team the next week. Make it a week zero non-con game. Have a bye week the next week. One of those two things. I just, the travel's going to suck. This is nuts.

Starting point is 00:12:22 This is just, I don't know. To me, this is incredibly stupid. Now, let's try to view it from the glass half full approach. We'll get to that next. This is Lock on Jayhawks. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Fan Dual Sports, book, NFL seasons here. Fandwell's making sure you're ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer.

Starting point is 00:12:42 Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I'm already eyeing the Kansas line for taking on Arizona State in England because they have a little bit shorter travel, right? Might be like one or two less hours of travel. Could that be the difference for Kansas against Arizona State? But really, you can get lines for the KU.S. Virginia game. You can get player props, build your own same game parlay. You can even have futures for the college basketball season

Starting point is 00:13:09 if you're looking ahead to that because we're less than a month away from late night in the fog. So are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com to get started. That's Fandual.com to place your first $5 bet. Today's episode's also brought to you by Mazda. You can just move through life or you can find the things that move you. It's your choice.

Starting point is 00:13:30 You can choose to get out there, choose your people. You can choose to go for it. Like, really, go for it. Just choose to do something that moves you. Mazda crafts cars for those who choose to do more than simply move. Mazda, move and be moved. So thanks to joining us on this bonus episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. What are some of the positive spins you can put on this game for K.

Starting point is 00:13:55 I mean, I think first of all, I guess I would say, like, okay, so giving up a home game here does suck. If you are, I don't know if they would or not. But again, if Arizona State is, then that sucks for Arizona State. I had somebody reach out to me on Twitter, Aaron Allen at Jayhawk Noel on Twitter. So shout out to you. And he mentioned like it is cool that KU is at a place where they were wanted for this. And that is absolutely true. It is cool that Kansas, because you do this five, six, seven, ten years ago, there's no way Kansas would have been the pick.

Starting point is 00:14:28 And so from that perspective, the place that Lance Leipold has got the program, like that is cool that Kansas is now being somebody who has been. picked. And you look at some of the TV ratings from like the Missouri game and what Kansas is doing so far this season. Like that's cool. That's cool. So that is a positive out of this that like they are being seen as a real brand in football, which is awesome for KU. That is objectively great. Now, like I said, with with that, the home game things, like that would suck if if you're a season ticket holder or you're a student and you lose out a game like that, I will say the positive spin on this, even though I would say for a majority of

Starting point is 00:15:04 people is going to be they lose out on that game the positive spin on this is for the the select few who can afford both with their time and money to go out to this game in england they're probably going to have a sweet time man like that's going to be a memory you make with with you'll probably go out there with your family you'll go see some cool things overseas the the atmosphere will probably be pretty interesting to go out to get some fish and chips before the game like objectively if you go out to this you will probably have a good time all the reasons that I'm saying it's a bad idea I mean again one you are hurting you know the local fan base who can't make it out to the game or can't afford it um but that's never been how this stuff works

Starting point is 00:15:46 anyway it's always catered to the highest you know paying stuff um my my biggest qualms are are more so about how this affects the team's performance but again if you are able to afford and go out there from that perspective it would be really cool right it's just not the most feasible. Like again, if you're Lance Lightbold, I'm sitting here going, yeah, this, this would not be great for my team. Like, I don't love this. I would want to push back on this. But I don't know. That would just be my thought if I was in his shoes. He's a smarter guy than me with football, though. So who knows? Maybe he has a different spin on this. Now, the other positive spin is there would be a lot of eyeballs on KU. Again, that can go either way.

Starting point is 00:16:27 You lose the game. And it's like the world is ending. Everybody's watching this game. Now, when I say everybody's watching this game, it is a little different than the Ireland game in Week Zero because there's not as many games on. This one, it would be a priority and would have pregame fanfare and would be talked about and stuff. There still would be other games going on, but it certainly would have people's attention to some degree. And if you win the game, the positive outlook of that is it really boosts the way people look at you, maybe where you're ranked, the morale of the team. like those would all be positives that could come for this i still knowing all those things don't think if there's any way kansas can avoid doing this and if i'm arizona state i feel the exact same way about this i would not want to do this but i it sounds like it's going to happen

Starting point is 00:17:19 and uh i don't know expand that footprint into england and maybe k u will uh wind up with a kicker in england in five years who knows all right that'll do for this bonus episode locked on j hawks you can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. Check out some more Kansas, West Virginia content previews, keys to the game, plenty more, and we'll see you next time with Locked on Jayhawks.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - RUBBISH: Kansas Jayhawks' RISKY London, England Venture vs Arizona St. | Is This a MASSIVE Mistake?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.