Courtesy of Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men’s basketball will appear on ESPN Big Monday three times and 12 of KU’s 18 league contests will appear on ESPN or ESPN2 as the Big 12 announced its conference schedule for 2023-24 on Tuesday. The Big 12 also announced that CBS will air two KU league games this season, one at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 6, against TCU and the other at Iowa State on Saturday, Jan. 27.
The team’s Jan. 6 contest against TCU will serve as the conference opener for both teams. The Jayhawks will then hit the road for a Jan. 10 matchup against new conference member UCF at the Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida.
The two-time defending Big 12 champion Jayhawks will make their first appearance on Big Monday Jan. 22, hosting Cincinnati at Allen Fieldhouse for the first Big 12 Conference matchup between the two teams. KU will then travel to Manhattan, Kansas to play Kansas State on Monday, Feb. 5 and conclude its Big Monday slate at Texas Tech on Feb. 12.
Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97, Kansas has appeared on more ESPN Big Monday contests than any other conference school. KU is 78-22 all-time on ESPN Big Monday (47-1 at home and 31-21 on the road), including 59-16 under head coach Bill Self (36-0 at home and 23-16 on the road). Additionally, KU has won 40-consecutive Big Monday games hosted at Allen Fieldhouse. Overall, KU is 23-4 in its last 27 ESPN Big Monday contests.
Kansas released its nonconference schedule on June 5, featuring an Allen Fieldhouse matchup against the reigning national champions, Connecticut, as well contests against Missouri, Yale, Eastern Illinois, Kansas City, North Carolina Central and Manhattan. The Connecticut game, slated for Dec. 1, is part of the Big 12/BIG EAST Battle. The home contest against Missouri is part of the Border Showdown, set for Dec. 9. KU will face Kentucky in the Champions Classic in Chicago on Nov. 14, and participate in the eight-team field at the Maui Invitational, Nov. 20-22 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Beginning with its home exhibition contest against Fort Hays State on Nov. 1, 10 Kansas games will be broadcast on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+, including four in conference play. Television and tip times for two non-conference games, Dec. 16 at Indiana and Dec. 30 versus Wichita State in Kansas City, Missouri, have not been announced.
KU will officially tip off the 2023-24 season with the 39th annual Late Night in the Phog on Friday, Oct. 6, in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas won the 2023 Big 12 regular-season title, its second straight and 21st in the 27-year history of the league.
Kansas is coming off a 28-8 season in which it won the Big 12 regular-season title with a 13-5 league record. It was KU’s NCAA-record 64th conference regular-season title and 17th under head coach Bill Self in his 20 seasons at Kansas. Kansas finished runner-up in the 2023 Big 12 Tournament, advancing to its NCAA-record 33rd-consecutive NCAA Tournament, a streak that started in 1990.
