What-If Wednesday: Lance Leipold’s Contract, Oklahoma’s Regrets, Kansas’ NCAA Tournament Odds
Welcome to our newest feature, which we’re calling “What-If Wednesday.” In this column, I’ll propose a handful of questions that, at this point, have not come to fruition. But IF they do, what will come out of it? What’s the end game?
Join us for this one, and let’s have some fun.
What if Lance Leipold’s new contract is further proof Kansas is committed to football?
Then watch out, Big 12.
Lance Leipold reportedly became one of the highest-paid Big 12 coaches on Wednesday with a new deal from the University of Kansas. According to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Leipold and Kansas have reached an agreement on an extension that will pay the fourth-year head coach more than $7 million annually, ranking him among the top three average annual salaries in the Big 12 and among the 20 highest-paid coaches in college football.
What Leipold has done in three seasons has exceeded any optimistic KU fan’s wildest expectations, and then some. The Jayhawks are going to be in the thick of the Big 12 race for as long as Leipold is around, and his loyalty to KU, despite overtures from elsewhere in the country, proves he thinks he can not just win, but get to a College Football Playoff, in Lawrence.
And he’s right. He can. Heck, KU football has better odds than Oklahoma to make the Playoff in 2024. If I told you that, you would have called me crazy. But here we are.
What if Oklahoma’s Playoff odds really are worse than seven Big 12 teams?
Then the Sooners will regret leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, at least privately.
New odds have OU with a worse chance than nearly half the Big 12 to make the new 12-team playoff. I don’t know if that’s entirely fair, but the broader point here is that the oddsmakers believe that the Big 12 is wide open, while Oklahoma is going to have a tough time in the SEC.
OU will be getting a boatload of money to play in the SEC, but had they known then, when they decided to leave with Texas in 2021, what they know now, would they still have gone? Probably, but the answer isn’t as obvious as it was nearly three years ago.
Brett Yormark and the general state of the Big 12 has changed dramatically, and for the better. The checks will be big, but ask Nebraska fans how much excitement they get watching .500 football, while knowing the University is making a killing. Is it worth it to them?
What if Kevin McCullar Jr. can’t play the rest of the season?
Then Kansas’ ceiling for the NCAA Tournament probably became the Sweet 16.
I’m not trying to overreact to Kansas’ loss to BYU on Tuesday night, but this team, which has lacked depth all season long, is struggling to overcome not having one of their veteran leaders on the floor. And that was evident on Tuesday night, especially down the stretch as Kansas was in the process of blowing a 12-point lead at Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas has the talent to get to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament without Kevin McCullar, but beyond that feels like a major longshot right now. Come the second weekend of the Big Dance, they’d be playing with house money.
They need him, but they’re better off making sure he’s healthy for March than rushing him back for the end of the regular season or even the Big 12 Tournament.
