Rankings KU's June 9-11 visitors based on the odds they end up a Jayhawk

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We now know when Kansas will take on Illinois in the Jayhawks’ marquee non-conference matchup in 2023. The game, which was initially slated for a Saturday when the initial schedule was released, has been moved up a day to Friday night. The Jayhawks and Illini will now face off at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday, September 8 inside of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

During a Zoom call with reporters on Thursday, KU AD Travis Goff broke down the decision to move the game and explained the factors that led to the move.

"For any of us who've followed Kansas football, this program, where we've been this past fall and where we're trying to go, it shouldn't be any surprise that we haven't gotten very many phone calls and invites to be on primetime," Goff said. "Over many a year, quite frankly. And the young men in that program, deserve a chance to play in front of what is really, 3, 4, 5, 6, potentially X times the eyeballs they're going to get on a Week 2 Saturday. Week 2 Saturday college football has some of the best matchups of the entire year. The reality is, at this juncture, Kansas vs. Illinois wasn't going to be elevated to a primetime network or slot on that Saturday."

At the moment, the only other college football game on the schedule for that Friday night is Indiana State at Indiana on Big 10 Network. That’s according to fbschedules.com. There are several high profile games on Saturday, including Texas A&M at Miami, Nebraska at Colorado, Utah at Baylor and Texas at Alabama. There are also several other games involved multiple Power 5 teams that day.

Goff said ESPN is the one who brought up the subject of moving the game.

"[ESPN] reached out to us and invited us to fill that primetime role on Friday, and we couldn't be more excited. I mean, I think it's an incredible opportunity for our entire institution to demonstrate what's special about the University of Kansas, what's special about that environment for football on a Friday night in particular. And then the direction of this football program. So for us in every evaluation, it's a win. We know there are certainly some potential inconveniences for some segments of our fans who are sensitive to Fridays in terms of high school football. And we're working actively to try and come up with ways to be better partners and open up some other doors for a more local high school football programs. So really excited about where that's going."

KU also announced that its season opener against Missouri State had been moved from Thursday, August 31 to Friday, September 1. It’s the third-straight season that KU has started its season on a Friday night. The Jayhawks previously beat South Dakota and Tennessee Tech to open its respective 2021 and 2022 campaigns.

Goff said it was a concession KU had to make.

"We apologize to those fans that it certainly will impact and does impact to some extent, we hope there's enough runway and advanced notice for people to adapt to the shift to Friday,” Goff said. “And ultimately, it had a lot to do with the ability to get this Illinois game that next Friday. We really needed to move from Thursday to Friday and it was a bit of a value valuation and ultimately, we just determined that the Friday night against Illinois on ESPN2 primetime was more important and potentially impactful for our program."