Kansas opens up the 2024-25 season on Nov. 4 at home against Howard and plays another game at Allen Fieldhouse against North Carolina as part of a loaded nonconference slate. The Jayhawks will play in one of two marquee matchups (vs. Michigan State) in a doubleheader at the State Farm Champions Classic during the opening month of the season; Duke vs. Kentucky is the other.
The Jayhawks have games vs. Creighton, Missouri, NC State and Furman on the schedule before Big 12 play starts at the turn of the calendar year. With Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah joining the conference, the Big 12 is expected to be as strong as ever.
Expectations for Bill Self and company will be as high as ever after a disappointing exit in the NCAA Tournament last spring. After falling to Gonzaga in the second round, Kansas loaded up in the transfer portal by landing former Wisconsin and St. John’s forward AJ Storr, Alabama forward Rylan Griffen and South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo alongside blue-chip incoming freshmen Flory Bidunga (No. 14 overall) and Rakease Passmore (No. 49 overall).
Kansas is ranked No. 1 in Gary Parrish’s latest Top 25 and 1 . It will have a strong case to open as the preseason top-ranked team because of the newcomers on the roster and the return of veterans Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams Jr. and Dajuan Harris Jr.
Here are the top five Kansas nonconference games to watch this season.
1. Duke (Vegas Showdown)
When: Nov. 26, 2024 Where: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)
One of the best matchups in the sport will take place during the opening month in Sin City when Kansas faces Duke. The Blue Devils are another team in contention to be the preseason top-ranked team due to the arrival of five-star forward Cooper Flagg – one of the most anticipated incoming freshmen in recent memory. But it’s not just Flagg that makes the Blue Devils matchup with Kansas so appealing, as the program returns their (projected) starting backcourt in Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster. Duke added Mason Gillis (Purdue), Maliq Brown (Syracuse) and Sion James (Tulane) to the top-ranked high school recruiting class that features Flagg, Khaman Maluach, Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, Patrick Ngongba ll and Darren Harris. Both teams will likely be ranked in the top five when this game tips off.
2. vs. North Carolina
When: Nov. 8, 2024 Where: Allen Fieldhouse (Lawrence, Kansas)
The opening week of the college basketball season has a handful of intriguing matchups but not many will have the eye candy of Kansas’ matchup with North Carolina at Allen Fieldhouse. The Tar Heels lost star big man Armando Bacot, but return All-American guard RJ Davis, who should be one of the top candidates to win national player of the year. UNC added sharpshooter Cade Tyson from the transfer portal and landed two five-star recruits: Ian Jackson and Drake Powell. The X-Factor for UNC this season will be Elliot Cadeau, a former five-star recruit from the 2023 recruiting cycle who showed flashes of his elite passing during his freshman campaign.
3. Michigan State (Champions Classic)
When: Nov. 12, 2024 Where: State Farm Arena (Atlanta)
Kansas has two marquee games during the first 10 days of the season, with its matchup against Michigan State coming on the second Tuesday of the season. The State Farm Champions Classic features Kansas’ showdown with Michigan State and Duke facing Kentucky to close out the evening. Tyson Walker, Malik Hall and A.J. Hoggard – MSU’s top three scorers from last season – are gone, but the program returns veteran guard Jaden Akins. Xavier Booker, Jeremy Fears and Coen Carr – three members of Michigan State’s star-studded 2023 recruiting class – are expected to see their respective roles increase. No matter if both, one, or none of the teams are ranked, a coaching matchup between Self and Tom Izzo will always be appointment viewing.
4. at Creighton
When: Dec. 4, 2024 Where: CHI Health Center (Omaha, Nebraska)
Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman may be off to the NBA, but a matchup between Kansas and Creighton should be intriguing. Dickinson and Ryan Kalkbrenner are two of the best centers in the sport and that alone makes this one of the top nonconference games in college basketball. Kansas leads the all-time series 6-1. The last matchup between these programs came in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
5. at Missouri
When: Dec. 14, 2024 Where: Mizzou Arena (Columbia, Missouri)
How can you forget about a matchup between two former Big 12 rivals? This game has been promoted as the Hy-Vee Hoops Border Showdown since 2021 and is one of the fiercest rivalries in college basketball. The first game played between the two programs in hoops was in 1907 with the rivalry pausing when Missouri departed for the SEC in 2012 before it was revived in 2021. The Jayhawks have won 14 of the last 16 matchups, including a 73-64 win at home last season. This game will be played in Columbia this season before being shifted to a neutral site matchup in 2025 and 2026.
Kansas’ 2024-25 nonconference schedule
| Mon., Nov. 4 | vs. Howard | Lawrence, Kan. (Allen Fieldhouse) |
| Fri., Nov. 8 | vs. North Carolina | Lawrence, Kan. (Allen Fieldhouse) |
| Tue., Nov. 12 | Michigan State | Champions Classic | Atlanta (State Farm Arena) |
| Sat., Nov. 16 | vs. Oakland | Lawrence, Kan. (Allen Fieldhouse) |
| Tue., Nov. 19 | vs. UNC-Wilmington | Lawrence, Kan. (Allen Fieldhouse) |
| Tue., Nov. 26 | Duke | Vegas Showdown | Las Vegas (T-Mobile Arena) |
| Sat., Nov. 30 | vs. Furman | Lawrence, Kan. (Allen Fieldhouse) |
| Wed., Dec. 4 | at Creighton | Omaha, Neb. / CHI Health Center |
| Sun., Dec. 8 | at Missouri | Columbia, Mo. (Mizzou Arena) |
| Sat., Dec. 14 | vs. NC State | Lawrence, Kan. (Allen Fieldhouse) |
| Sun., Dec. 22 | vs. Brown | Lawrence, Kan. (Allen Fieldhouse) |
Duke basketball schedule 2024-25: Showdowns vs. Kansas, Kentucky lead rankings of top five nonconference games
Cameron Salerno
