LAWRENCE — Kansas football wrapped up its 2023 season with a top 25 ranking in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

The Jayhawks jumped into the top 25, at No. 23, following bowl season. That included head coach Lance Leipold’s squad picking up a Guaranteed Rate Bowl win against UNLV in December in Phoenix. And both the top 25 ranking and bowl victory added to what was already going to be a celebrated year in the program’s recent history, or just history at large.

“It’s a New Era,” the team posted earlier this month on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

In just the third season of Leipold’s tenure and rebuild in Lawrence, Kansas finished 9-4 overall and 5-4 against the Big 12 Conference. That’s the most wins in a season since 2007. That’s the most wins in Big 12 play, and first winning record in Big 12 play, since 2007, too.

Injuries at the quarterback position at varying times had the potential to derail the Jayhawks’ campaign, but in their own ways junior Jalon Daniels, redshirt senior Jason Bean and freshman Cole Ballard all helped keep the team’s momentum from falling off. With Bean at the helm, Kansas upset Oklahoma at home and exorcised some demons from the 2021 season with a win on the road at Iowa State. Bean then led the way with a record-setting performance in the bowl game as he put the finishing touches on his legacy at KU.

Many key players, including Daniels, will be back with the Jayhawks when the 2024 season kicks off. That includes a couple of other juniors from this past season in running back Devin Neal and cornerback Cobee Bryant, who each could have elected to turn pro instead. It could mean Kansas starts the season ranked in the top 25, as it looks to challenge for the championship in a new-look Big 12.

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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 finishes season ranked in top 25 of coaches poll