photo by: Nick Krug

The Kansas student section goes wild as the starting lineup for the Jayhawks is introduced before tipoff of an exhibition against Washburn on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse.

ESPN announced on Tuesday afternoon its slate of “Big Monday” games for the upcoming 2025-26 men’s college basketball season, which includes several contests featuring Kansas in Big 12 Conference competition on Monday nights.

The Jayhawks will travel to Texas Tech on Feb. 2, host Arizona on Feb. 9 and host Houston Feb. 23. Each game will take place at 8 p.m. Central Time and will be televised on ESPN.

The rest of KU’s Big 12 Conference schedule has not yet been revealed; the full schedule generally comes out in late September.

While it is fielding a dramatically different roster for the upcoming season, headlined by highly touted freshman guard Darryn Peterson, KU will be looking for revenge against these teams, all three of which it lost to in their most recent matchups. The Jayhawks saw a comeback attempt fall short against Tech on March 1 in a 78-73 home loss, got knocked out of the Big 12 tournament by Arizona with an 88-77 loss on March 13 (shortly after beating the Wildcats at Allen Fieldhouse) and lost to Houston at the Fertitta Center on March 3, 65-59.

The Big Monday meetings between KU and Tech and KU and Houston will be one-off contests, but the Jayhawks will face Arizona a second time during the Big 12 schedule in 2026, as KU makes its first trip to McKale Center as a conference rival.

Tech and Houston both fell to Florida in the NCAA Tournament last season as the Gators claimed the national championship. The Red Raiders, who bowed out in the Elite Eight, lost key contributors like Elijah Hawkins, Chance McMillian and Darrion Williams from last year’s squad but retain guard Christian Anderson and second-team All-American forward JT Toppin and added wing LeJuan Watts from Washington State. The Cougars bring back much of the core of the team that reached the title game, even as they lose veterans L.J. Cryer and J’Wan Roberts; they still have guards Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan and forward Joseph Tugler and added an array of premier recruits headlined by forward Chris Cenac Jr.

Arizona lost in the Sweet 16 to Duke and has had to reconstruct much of its roster with seven freshmen, headlined by the duo of Koa Peat and Brayden Burries. Familiar faces include guards Jaden Bradley and Anthony Dell’Orso and forward Tobe Awaka.

KU, which has surrounded Peterson and Flory Bidunga with veteran transfers and high-upside freshmen, will open its season unofficially with Late Night in the Phog on Oct. 17.