Saturday's game between No. 22 Texas and Kansas has been postponed until Saturday, Dec. 12 due to Kansas' inability to meet the Big 12's minimum player standards at a certain position due to COVID-19. Kansas did not reveal which position group is below the minimum threshold but acknowledged in a statement that the issues are due to "a combination of injuries and contact tracing."
The Kansas football program has seen five positives from 825 COVID-19 tests performed since Nov. 8, according to the school. The postponed game means that both Kansas and Texas will each have two Saturdays between games as both programs were coming off bye weeks. For Texas, that's particularly consequential since the Longhorns were facing a quick turnaround before hosting No. 17 Iowa State in a critical league game next Friday. By contrast, Iowa State will be coming off a Saturday game with Kansas State.
Big 12 teams are required to have at least seven available offensive linemen, four available interior defensive linemen and one quarterback. In total, there is a 53-player minimum for teams, and that figure includes walk-on players. Texas vs. Kansas won't be the only Big 12 game on Dec. 12 as Oklahoma State and Baylor are also scheduled to play that day after their game originally scheduled for Oct. 17 was postponed.
The Texas-Kansas postponement is the first of the week for the Big 12 and the fifth postponement or cancellation of a Power Five game, joining Arizona State-Colorado, Ole Miss-Texas A&M, Georgia Tech-Miami and Wake Forest-Duke among the Power Five games that have been canceled or postponed this week.
