Soft Schedule A Boon For Kansas In Building Program

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ When it comes to the art of soft early-season schedules, Kansas football coach Mark Mangino learned from the master. <br/><br/>Former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder routinely scheduled

Monday, October 8th 2007, 2:37 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ When it comes to the art of soft early-season schedules, Kansas football coach Mark Mangino learned from the master.

Former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder routinely scheduled overmatched teams during the nonconference portion of the schedule while turning the Wildcats into a national power in the 1990s.

Mangino -- an assistant at Kansas State and Oklahoma before becoming the Jayhawks' head coach in 2002 -- developed a schedule for this season that likely would make Snyder proud.

Kansas opened with home games against Central Michigan, Southeastern Louisiana, Toledo and Florida International, outscoring that foursome 214-23.

Thus prepared, the Jayhawks went on the road to Kansas State and beat the then-24th-ranked Wildcats 30-24 on Saturday _ a week after the Wildcats had won at Texas. The loss vaulted Kansas into the Associated Press' Top 25 at No. 20, the first time since 1995 that the Jayhawks have been ranked.