Tough Luck for Jayhawks?

UCLA is not the typical Kansas opponent.

Because the Big 12 Conference is so rigorous, the Jayhawks normally schedule weak teams early.

Coach Terry Allen is 10-4 in nonconference games yet only 19-27 overall in four-plus seasons.

The Jayhawks learned their lesson in the 1993 Kickoff Classic, when No. 1 Florida State hammered them, 42-0.

The No. 14 Bruins will be the highest-ranked nonconference opponent since.

The Jayhawks’ only victory over a ranked opponent in their last 21 tries was a 33-17 upset of No. 17 Colorado three years ago.

Kansas usually fattens up in early September, winning its second game 10 of the last 11 years.

But those second-game opponents have ranged from Western Carolina to Cal State Northridge.

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The game was scheduled because Missouri pulled out of a contract with UCLA in 1999.

Because most teams form schedules several years in advance, the Bruins were unable to fill the opening until 2000.

And it is not a home-and-home arrangement--UCLA’s schedule for next season was finalized long ago.

UCLA sold fewer than 2,000 tickets to the game, about half the number at Alabama.

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In addition to the four UCLA coaches who have previously worked with Kansas coaches, Bruin offensive coordinator Kelly Skipper and Jayhawk Athletic Director Allen Bohl have ties.

Skipper was an assistant at Fresno State, his alma mater, in the mid-1990s, when Bohl was athletic director there.