LAWRENCE — Kansas football enjoyed more preseason recognition Monday, with its inclusion in the first Associated Press top 25 poll of the year.

The Jayhawks, ranked No. 22, will enter the season as a top 25 team in both major polls. They are also No. 24 in the US LBM Coaches Poll. And it’s the first time since 2008 that the team has been able to enter the year with as significant of expectations nationally.

But while KU head coach Lance Leipold acknowledged the meaning behind this reality, he also kept the news in perspective. Entering the fourth season of his tenure in Lawrence, he pointed to the fact simply being ranked isn’t going to determine whether they win or lose any future game this year. It’s something worth celebrating, but not something that should lead the team to rest on its laurels.

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“It doesn’t mean much, especially as we get close to kicking off, but I also have to make sure that it does mean something for this program considering where we were at and what it’s been,” Leipold said. “We need to make sure that — we’re taking strides from last year, and then enough this year, that people are recognizing this program and recognizing the talent on this team and some of the things that we’ve been able to do. So, that is positive, because whether it be recruiting, whether it be our fan base, whatever the case may be, we’ve got to take these type of things and take them for what they’re worth, but also at face value that it doesn’t win you anything.”

Kansas is coming into its 2024 campaign off of a 9-4 record in 2023 and a Guaranteed Rate Bowl victory against UNLV. The Jayhawks captured their first bowl win in more than a decade last year, as they also reached back-to-back bowl games for the first time in more than a decade. They’re one of a number of teams that have a real chance to win a championship in the new-look Big 12 Conference this year, and therefore be in contention to make an expanded College Football Playoff.

On offense, Kansas is led by the likes of redshirt junior quarterback Jalon Daniels and senior running back Devin Neal. On defense, there are multiple players who could earn All-Big 12 honors at the season’s end — including senior cornerback Cobee Bryant. Bryant just made the preseason watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is given each year to the top defensive talent in college football.

After a regular season opener Aug. 29 at home against Lindenwood, the Jayhawks will face their first true test of the season Sept. 7 on the road against Illinois. A rematch Sept. 13 at home against UNLV will follow to finish up Kansas’ non-conference slate. Then Big 12 play begins Sept. 21 on the road against West Virginia, as the Jayhawks will have the chance to showcase how appropriate being ranked in a preseason top 25 poll was.

“It’s just a number, man,” redshirt senior defensive end Dylan Wudke said. “It’s all preseason talk. Come season, we’ll show what we got.”

Jordan Guskey covers 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: Kansas football coach Lance Leipold reacts to team’s preseason ranking