KU’s nine-year bowl drought longest by five years among power-five schools

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas defenders Phillip Strozier, left, and Joe Mortensen celebrate a defensive stop against Minnesota near the goal line during the third quarter of the Insight Bowl Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.

The Big 12 has a remarkable 80 percent of its members heading to a bowl game. Baylor (1-11 overall, 1-8 in Big 12 play) and Kansas (1-11, 0-9) are the lone exceptions.

A disappointing season extended KU’s bowl drought to nine years. No other school from a power-five conference has a drought of longer than four years and Oregon State and Syracuse are the lone schools to go that long without the extra game and practices that go with it.

KU’s attendance dropped for the ninth consecutive year, to 25,165, despite Kansas State and Oklahoma drawing a large number of fans to Memorial Stadium.

At what point does the school’s conference affiliation become jeopardized by the football program’s inability to compete?

“That’s not something that’s ever been (a concern),” KU athletic director Sheahon Zenger told me in an interview in his office last week. “We’re a strong institution in many, many, many ways, and strong in this athletic department. Granted, we don’t have the wins in football right now, but all else is going well.”

Kansas last participated in the postseason on New Year’s Eve 2008, when the Jayhawks defeated Minnesota, 42-21, in the Insight Bowl in Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. That improved Mark Mangino’s bowl record to 3-1. His 2006 team also was bowl eligible but was not invited to a game.

A look at the bottom 20 power-five schools in terms participation in bowl games during the length of KU’s drought:

School Bowls since 2009 season Drought
1 – Kansas None Nine years
2 – Colorado 2016 One year
3 (tie) – Virginia 2011, 2017 Zero
3 (tie) – Indiana 2015, 2016 One year
5 (tie) – Purdue 2011, 2012, 2017 Zero
5 (tie) – Wake Forest 2011, 2016, 2017 Zero
5 (tie) – Cal 2009, 2011, 2015 Two years
5 (tie) – Illinois 2010, 2011, 2014 Three years
5 (tie) – Oregon State 2009, 2012, 2013 Four years
5 (tie) – Syracuse 2010, 2012, 2013 Four years
11 (tie) – Iowa State 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017 Zero
11 (tie) – Kentucky 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017 Zero
11 (tie) – Maryland 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016 One year
11 (tie) – Vanderbilt 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 One year
11 (tie) – Washington State 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 Zero
16 (tie) – Duke 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 Zero
16 (tie) – Texas Tech 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 Zero
16 (tie) – Ole Miss 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 Two years
16 (tie) – Rutgers 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Three years
16 (tie) – Tennessee 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016 One year