LONDON (AP) — Kansas coach Lance Leipold has shrugged off the suggestion that his team gained a logistical advantage for Saturday's game against Arizona State by having played one day earlier than the Sun Devils last week.
Leipold spoke Wednesday after the Jayhawks arrived in London for their Big 12 Conference matchup at Wembley Stadium in the inaugural Union Jack Classic.
Kansas played at home on Friday night, losing 38-21 to Missouri, and the Sun Devils lost on the road Saturday, 48-20 to Texas A&M. On Tuesday, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham said it's “common sense” that teams in an international game should play on the same day in the prior week.
“When you really break it down,” Leipold said Wednesday, “the game ended at close to 11 p.m. and they kicked off at 11 a.m., so I don't know if it's exactly as much as we want to make it out. I think they got the advantage maybe to come here and get acclimated, I don't know.”
The Sun Devils opted to travel to London after their game at College Station.
“I know his point about about getting some work done before you get on the plane and do some things, I respect that,” Leipold said. “I don’t know if there’s a real advantage in either way. ... It looks like they’ve adapted really well and getting a lot of work done here.”
The Big 12 announced in April that the Kansas-Missouri game would be moved up a day. Leipold said he received a text message from Dillingham when the change was announced.
If Cole Ballard isn’t available Saturday to back up starting quarterback Isaiah Marshall, the Jayhawks would turn to Chase Jenkins.
Ballard sustained an apparent shoulder injury in the loss to Missouri on a trick play in the third quarter.
“Chase has got a lot of work this week,” Leipold said after the team practiced at the Grasshoppers rugby club in west London. “And, yeah, we feel confident that if called upon that he can run our offense and lead our team.”
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here.
Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham reacts to a call against his offense during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Texas A&M Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate Wednesday for the first time since 2023 in an effort to quell stubbornly-high inflation and the central bank also signaled that another rate hike could occur later this year.
The quarter-point increase lifts the Fed’s key rate to about 3.9% and, over time, could result in higher borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards. In a set of quarterly projections, the Fed also signaled that its rate-setting committee could hike rates a second time to 4.1%.
The move comes as Americans are already struggling with high costs for groceries, gas, and housing. Affordability has taken on a leading role in the upcoming midterm elections, just seven weeks away.
In a press conference following the Fed's announcement, Chair Kevin Warsh emphasized that the economy has shown signs of gathering speed since the central bank decided to keep rates unchanged in late July. Inflation has also remained stubbornly above the Fed's 2% target, and he noted that there is little sign it is cooling.
“The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long,” Warsh said. “We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective clearly and at sufficient speed. Today the FOMC decided that this standard has not been satisfied,” he added, referring to the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, an arm of the Fed.
“Warsh’s tough talk around inflation in the post-meeting press conference suggested that he may be pushing for higher rates in meetings to come,” said Preston Caldwell, chief U.S. economist at Morningstar.
Warsh also said renewed combat between the U.S. and Iran, which has driven up gas prices, had convinced Fed officials to support rate hikes.
“There’s no hiding from hot spots around the world,” he said.
Warsh noted that other central banks are hiking interest rates in response to global turmoil and higher gas prices. The European Central Bank raised its key rate last week, and the Bank of Japan is expected to do the same Sept. 18.
The Fed next meets in late October and most economists expect officials will keep rates unchanged then because it is just a week before the midterm elections. But Wall Street analysts now see a rate hike by December as a near certainty, according to futures prices.
Also late Wednesday, the yield, or interest rate, on the 2-year Treasury rose to 4.74% from 4.67%, another sign investors expect the Fed to potentially lift rates further. Still, if inflation does show signs of cooling in the coming months, that could change.
Since taking the lead at the Fed in May, Warsh has said it is firmly committed to taming inflation, and that policymakers would take their cues from the data to determine if inflation was going in the right direction.
The rate hike marks a turnaround for Warsh, who was appointed by President Donald Trump. Warsh often suggested last year when under consideration by Trump that the Fed could reduce its key rate, echoing the president’s call for lower borrowing costs.
And in April, when Warsh’s nomination was under consideration by the Senate Banking Committee, Trump said in a television interview that he would be disappointed if Warsh didn’t cut rates. On the same day, however, Warsh told the committee he did not promise Trump he would cut rates and said he would be “an independent actor” as Fed chair.
Yet the ongoing disruptions from the Iran war, which have pushed up average gas prices more than 7% from just a month ago, threaten to spread through the economy and keep broader inflation stubbornly high. An inflation report last week showed core prices, which exclude food and energy, accelerated a bit in August.
According to the Fed’s preferred measure, inflation was 3.7% in July compared with a year ago, up from 2.3% in April 2025, just before Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs. Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, was 3.3% in July, the latest data available, up from 3% just before the Iran war and far above the Fed’s target.
Fed policymakers unanimously supported the rate hike, compared with late July when the central bank kept rates steady and three officials dissented in favor of higher rates. Sixteen of the eighteen Fed policymakers who submitted growth and interest rate projections penciled in at least one further rate hike this year, with four supporting two more increases.
Earlier Wednesday, the government said retail sales jumped 1.2% in August from the previous month, a sign that consumers are still spending at healthy levels despite sentiment surveys that indicate Americans remain gloomy about the economy. Strong spending is a sign that interest rates at current levels aren’t necessarily restricting the economy and cooling inflation.
“While uncertainty remains elevated owing, in part, to geopolitical developments, domestic spending has been resilient,” the Fed said, a likely reference to ongoing consumer spending and strong investment in AI data centers by large technology companies.
Higher inflation isn’t all about gas prices. Ongoing investment in AI has driven up prices for computer chips and other electronic gear, adding to overall inflation. Tariffs may still be elevating some costs, such as appliances, which jumped in price last month.
Trump harshly criticized Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, for not cutting rates quickly enough. His Justice Department even launched a criminal investigation into Powell over brief testimony he delivered to Congress last year, though that probe was eventually dropped.
When asked Wednesday how the president might react to the rate increase, Warsh said, “I’ve got nothing for you on a discussion with the president.”
Trump again called for lower interest rates in a social media post late Wednesday, but didn't comment on the Fed's action. On Sunday, Kevin Hassett, Trump’s top economic adviser, was asked in an interview with Fox News how Trump might react to a rate hike.
“I’m sure he’s not going to be super happy about it, but he will defend the independence of Kevin Warsh above all,” Hassett said.
Warsh might also have a measure of protection from the fact that his father-in-law is Ronald Lauder, a friend of Trump’s and a billionaire donor to his campaigns.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Kevin Warsh speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Kevin Warsh speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Kevin Warsh attends an observance ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
