These 7 Kansas basketball non-conference games stand out as Jayhawks’ 2024-25 season nears

LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball will enter the 2024-25 season as one of the favorites to win a national championship, if not the favorite.

The Jayhawks are led by head coach Bill Self, who has won a pair of national titles already during his tenure at KU. They have a trio of high-profile returning starters in graduate center Hunter Dickinson, senior forward KJ Adams Jr. and graduate guard Dajuan Harris Jr, with Dickinson as a potential favorite to be the national player of the year. Among the newcomers Self’s staff has added, include transfers such as senior guard Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State) and junior guard AJ Storr (Wisconsin).

Before Kansas reaches its Big 12 Conference slate, it’ll make its way through a challenging non-conference schedule. The Jayhawks will be challenged at home, on the road and at neutral sites. Prior to the start of Big 12 play, which will be a gauntlet in its own right, KU will have a good idea of where it stands as a team.

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Here are seven Kansas basketball non-conference games to keep an eye on:

Howard — Nov. 4 (Home)

Howard isn’t the most high-profile opponent Kansas will face during non-conference play, but it is the first. This is also the first time the Jayhawks will play a regular season game inside the newly-renovated Allen Fieldhouse. Sure, there’s Late Night in the Phog and an exhibition before it, but this is different.

North Carolina — Nov. 8 (Home)

It’s time for a rematch of the 2022 national championship game, which saw Self win his second national title at Kansas. The teams look much different than they did a couple of years ago, but the head coaches are the same. Also, Harris started on that team that won the 2022 national championship against North Carolina.

Michigan State — Nov. 12 (Neutral)

It’s time for another edition of the Champions Classic, and this time Kansas will face Michigan State in Atlanta. It’s an opportunity to showcase some of the most prestigious programs college basketball has to offer. The last time these two sides met was during the 2021-22 season, in the Champions Classic, and the Jayhawks won.

Duke — Nov. 26 (Neutral)

Kansas will face Duke in a blue-blood matchup in Las Vegas. These two sides also last met during a Champions Classic game, which the Jayhawks won during the 2022-23 season. There will be no shortage of talent in this contest, and the Blue Devils reached the Elite Eight during the 2024 NCAA tournament.

Creighton — Dec. 4 (Away)

This will be Kansas’ first true road game of the regular season. It’s also a matchup against a Creighton team that the Jayhawks had to beat during their national championship run in 2022. Whoever wins will add a tally to the win column of the Big 12-Big East Battle.

Missouri — Dec. 8 (Away)

Since the rivalry renewed, Kansas has kept leaving as the winner when these two sides have met. That includes a crushing victory in Columbia, Missouri, during the 2022-23 season. It’s time for another chapter in this series.

North Carolina State — Dec. 14 (Home)

This isn’t just another matchup against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent like Duke or North Carolina. North Carolina State is fresh off a run to the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA tournament. That makes this a must-see affair.

Jordan Guskey covers the University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: These Kansas basketball non-conference games stand out as season nears