CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Kansas

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Big 12), coached by Mark Mangino.

Schedule and results

Kansas in 2008, game by game: won vs. Florida International 40–10; won vs. Louisiana Tech 29–0; lost at No. 19 South Florida 34–37; won vs. Sam Houston 38–14; won at Iowa State 35–33; won vs. Colorado 30–14; lost at No. 4 Oklahoma 31–45; lost vs. No. 8 Texas Tech 21–63; won vs. Kansas State 52–21; lost at Nebraska 35–45; lost vs. No. 4 Texas 7–35; won vs. No. 12 Missouri 40–37; won vs. Minnesota 42–21+31−42Won 40–10 vs. Florida International+30Florida Interna…Won 29–0 vs. Louisiana Tech+29Louisiana TechLost 34–37 at No. 19 South Florida-3No. 19 South FloridaWon 38–14 vs. Sam Houston+24Sam HoustonWon 35–33 at Iowa State+2Iowa StateWon 30–14 vs. Colorado+16ColoradoLost 31–45 at No. 4 Oklahoma-14No. 4 OklahomaLost 21–63 vs. No. 8 Texas Tech-42No. 8 Texas TechWon 52–21 vs. Kansas State+31Kansas StateLost 35–45 at Nebraska-10NebraskaLost 7–35 vs. No. 4 Texas-28No. 4 TexasWon 40–37 vs. No. 12 Missouri+3No. 12 MissouriWon 42–21 vs. Minnesota+21Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsFlorida InternationalW 40–⁠1090%
Sep 6vsLouisiana TechW 29–⁠081%
Sep 12at19South FloridaL 34–⁠3748%
Sep 20vsSam HoustonW 38–⁠1489%
Oct 4atIowa StateW 35–⁠3370%
Oct 11vsColoradoW 30–⁠1478%
Oct 18at4OklahomaL 31–⁠4536%
Oct 25vs8Texas TechL 21–⁠6350%
Nov 1vsKansas StateW 52–⁠2173%
Nov 8atNebraskaL 35–⁠4555%
Nov 15vs4TexasL 7–⁠3536%
Nov 29vs12MissouriW 40–⁠3731%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsMinnesotaInsight BowlW 42–⁠2169%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Minnesota 42–⁠21 in the Insight Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 12th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 13
  4. Wk 4: 19
  5. Wk 5: 18
  6. Wk 6: 16
  7. Wk 7: 16
  8. Wk 8: 16
  9. Wk 9: 19
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 7th in Big 12
AP final
Unranked peak No. 13
Points
434–⁠375
Coach
Mark Mangino
Elo
1614 −22 this season
SP+ rating
16.0 No. 23 of 120; offense No. 9, defense No. 63, special teams No. 73
SRS
10.5 No. 20 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 43
Offensive coordinator
Ed Warinner
Defensive coordinator
Clint Bowen
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense16th of 120
  • Defense77th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted18th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted62nd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1045%0.9416th of 120
Defense0.0640%1.0477th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.08 off
0.03 def		45% off
39% def		—18th off
62nd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 312% allowed
Defense-0.1own 333% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2008 class

Greg Brown CB★★★No. 701
Corrigan Powell CB★★★No. 857
Nicholas Plato SDE★★★No. 901
Josh Richardson OLB★★★No. 1019
Ben Lueken OG★★★No. 1019

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Offensive line13.00.833
Defensive line13.00.843
Linebackers13.00.833
Defensive backs23.00.852
Whole class53.00.843

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

All-Big 12

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2008 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2008 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠112–⁠14
Oklahoma7–⁠112–⁠25
Texas Tech7–⁠111–⁠212
Missouri5–⁠310–⁠419
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠4
Oklahoma State5–⁠39–⁠416
Kansas4–⁠48–⁠5
Colorado2–⁠65–⁠7
Kansas State2–⁠65–⁠7
Baylor2–⁠64–⁠8
Texas A&M2–⁠64–⁠8
Iowa State0–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.