The Big 12 football schedule opponents and format have been set for the 2024 through 2027 seasons, the conference announced on Wednesday.
The 2024 Big 12 football season will be the first for the league as a 16-team conference fallowing the addition of the Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, Colorado Buffaloes, and Utah Utes. Two teams, the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns, depart the league for the SEC in 2024.
The 16-team Big 12 Conference will continua to play a nine-game conference schedule with three non-conference contests.
Additionally, all 16 Big 12 teams will compete in one division-less format. The two teams with the highest winning percentage in conference play will advance to the Big 12 Football Championship Game, which is held annually at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
From the Big 12:
During the four years, all teams will play one another at least once home and away. Some matchups will occur over three seasons while others take place in all four. Matchups in 2024 that were also played in 2023 will not repeat at the same site.
The Conference looked to maintain the current 5/4, 4/5 home/away rotation for all 16 members to minimize non-conference scheduling disruptions. Other important factors were balancing annual travel by distance and time zones as well as maintaining connectivity to rivalries without compromising a balanced rotation for all teams.
“As we look towards the future of this Conference, we are thrilled to introduce the first football scheduling matrix for the new-look Big 12,” said Commissioner Brett Yormark. “I’m grateful to our membership for their support throughout the scheduling process. In this model, competitive balance and student-athlete wellness was prioritized. Rivalries will be protected and new matchups will be introduced – the excitement and parity this Conference is known for will continue for years to come.”
The Big 12 did not reveal a date for the release of the 2024 football schedule with dates. Last month, Brett Yormark indicated that the schedule will be released in late November or December.
Listed below are the opponents for each Big 12 team for the 2024 through 2027 seasons.
Future Big 12 Football Opponents
2024 Home: Arizona State, Colorado, Texas Tech, Houston, West Virginia
2024 Away: BYU, Utah, TCU, UCF
2025 Home: BYU, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas
2025 Away: Arizona State, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Cincinnati
2026 Home: Arizona State, Utah, TCU, Iowa State, Cincinnati
2026 Away: BYU, Texas Tech, Kansas State, West Virginia
2027 Home: Colorado, Houston, Kansas State, UCF
2027 Away: Arizona State, Utah, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas
2024 Home: BYU, UCF, Kansas, Utah
2024 Away: Arizona, Cincinnati, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech
2025 Home: Arizona, Houston, TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia
2025 Away: Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Utah
2026 Home: Baylor, Colorado, Kansas State, Oklahoma State
2026 Away: Arizona, BYU, UCF, Kansas, Texas Tech
2027 Home: Arizona, BYU, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Utah
2027 Away: Colorado, Houston, TCU, West Virginia
2024 Home: BYU, Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU
2024 Away: Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Texas Tech, West Virginia
2025 Home: Arizona State, Houston, Kansas State, UCF, Utah
2025 Away: Arizona, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, TCU
2026 Home: Colorado, Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech
2026 Away: Arizona State, BYU, Houston, Kansas, UCF
2027 Home: Arizona, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, UCF, West Virginia
2027 Away: Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah
2024 Home: Arizona, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State
2024 Away: Arizona State, Baylor, UCF, Utah
2025 Home: TCU, UCF, Utah, West Virginia
2025 Away: Arizona, Cincinnati, Colorado, Iowa State, Texas Tech
2026 Home: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Cincinnati, Iowa State
2026 Away: Kansas, TCU, UCF, Utah
2027 Home: Colorado, Kansas, Texas Tech, Utah
2027 Away: Arizona State, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia
2024 Home: Arizona State, TCU, Houston, West Virginia
2024 Away: Colorado, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Iowa State, UCF
2025 Home: Arizona, BYU, Baylor, Iowa State, UCF
2025 Away: Utah, TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas
2026 Home: Utah, Colorado, Texas Tech, Kansas State
2026 Away: Arizona, BYU, Houston, Iowa State, West Virginia
2027 Home: TCU, Houston, Oklahoma State, Kansas, West Virginia
2027 Away: Arizona State, Baylor, Kansas State, UCF
2024 Home: Baylor, Cincinnati, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Utah
2024 Away: Arizona, Kansas, Texas Tech, UCF
2025 Home: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Iowa State
2025 Away: Houston, Kansas State, TCU, Utah, West Virginia
2026 Home: Houston, Kansas State, Texas Tech, UCF, Utah
2026 Away: Arizona State, Baylor, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State
2027 Home: Arizona State, Kansas, TCU, West Virginia
2027 Away: Arizona, BYU, Houston, Iowa State, UCF
2024 Home: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, Utah
2024 Away: Arizona, BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas, TCU
2025 Home: Arizona, Colorado, TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia
2025 Away: Arizona State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, UCF
2026 Home: Baylor, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, UCF
2026 Away: Colorado, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Utah, West Virginia
2027 Home: Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Kansas, Texas Tech
2027 Away: Arizona, Cincinnati, Iowa State, TCU
2024 Home: Baylor, Cincinnati, Kansas State, Texas Tech, UCF
2024 Away: Houston, Kansas, Utah, West Virginia
2025 Home: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Kansas
2025 Away: Cincinnati, Colorado, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU
2026 Home: Cincinnati, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Utah, West Virginia
2026 Away: Arizona, Baylor, BYU, UCF
2027 Home: Colorado, Houston, TCU, UCF
2027 Away: Arizona State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, West Virginia
2024 Home: Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, TCU
2024 Away: Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Kansas State, West Virginia
2025 Home: Cincinnati, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Utah, West Virginia
2025 Away: Arizona, Iowa State, Texas Tech, UCF
2026 Home: Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, UCF
2026 Away: Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Utah, West Virginia
2027 Home: Arizona, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech
2027 Away: BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston
2024 Home: Arizona State, Cincinnati, Kansas, Oklahoma State
2024 Away: BYU, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, West Virginia
2025 Home: Colorado, Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF
2025 Away: Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Utah
2026 Home: Arizona, Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State
2026 Away: Arizona State, Cincinnati, Colorado, Iowa State, TCU
2027 Home: Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Utah, West Virginia
2027 Away: Arizona, Kansas, Texas Tech, UCF
2024 Home: Arizona State, Texas Tech, Utah, West Virginia
2024 Away: Baylor, BYU, Colorado, Kansas State, TCU
2025 Home: Baylor, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State
2025 Away: Arizona, Kansas, Texas Tech, UCF
2026 Home: Colorado, Kansas, Texas Tech, UCF
2026 Away: Arizona State, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, West Virginia
2027 Home: Arizona, BYU, Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia
2027 Away: Baylor, Cincinnati, Kansas, Utah
2024 Home: Arizona, Texas Tech, Houston, Oklahoma State, UCF
2024 Away: Utah, Baylor, Kansas, Cincinnati
2025 Home: Colorado, Baylor, Iowa State, Cincinnati
2025 Away: Arizona State, BYU, Houston, Kansas State, West Virginia
2026 Home: BYU, Utah, Kansas, Kansas State, West Virginia
2026 Away: Arizona, Texas Tech, Baylor, UCF
2027 Home: Arizona State, Texas Tech, Baylor, Houston
2027 Away: Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Cincinnati
2024 Home: Arizona State, Baylor, Cincinnati, Colorado, West Virginia
2024 Away: Arizona, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, TCU
2025 Home: BYU, Kansas, Oklahoma State, UCF
2025 Away: Arizona State, Houston, Kansas State, Utah, West Virginia
2026 Home: Arizona, Arizona State, Houston, TCU, West Virginia
2026 Away: Baylor, Cincinnati, Colorado, Oklahoma State
2027 Home: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, Utah
2027 Away: BYU, Houston, Kansas, TCU, UCF
2024 Home: Arizona, BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Utah
2024 Away: Arizona State, Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia
2025 Home: Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State, West Virginia
2025 Away: Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas State, Texas Tech
2026 Home: Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Iowa State, TCU
2026 Away: Colorado, Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State
2027 Home: Cincinnati, Colorado, Kansas State, Texas Tech
2027 Away: Arizona, Baylor, Iowa State, Utah, West Virginia
2024 Home: Arizona, BYU, Iowa State, TCU
2024 Away: Arizona State, Colorado, Houston, Oklahoma State, UCF
2025 Home: Arizona State, Cincinnati, Colorado, Kansas State, Texas Tech
2025 Away: Baylor, BYU, Kansas, West Virginia
2026 Home: BYU, Houston, Kansas, West Virginia
2026 Away: Arizona, Cincinnati, Colorado, Iowa State, TCU
2027 Home: Arizona, Baylor, Oklahoma State, TCU, UCF
2027 Away: Arizona State, BYU, Kansas State, Texas Tech
2024 Home: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, UCF
2024 Away: Arizona, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech
2025 Home: Colorado, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah
2025 Away: Arizona State, BYU, Houston, Kansas, UCF
2026 Home: Arizona, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State
2026 Away: Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah
2027 Home: Arizona State, BYU, Iowa State, UCF
2027 Away: Baylor, Cincinnati, Colorado, Kansas State, Oklahoma State
Big 12 announces its football scheduling matrix (opponents) for 2024 through 2027 seasons. pic.twitter.com/CG0MLgidVn
— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) November 1, 2023
The Big 12 should drop to 7 conference games with the 16 teams organized into pods as follows:
Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Utah
Baylor, Houston, TCU, Texas Tech
Cincinnati, Iowa State, UCF, West Virginia
Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State
Each team would play its pod rivals every year and rotate among the other pods on a 6-year schedule. Each year two pairings of pods would be paired with each other.
The drop to 7 conference games by the Big 12 and SEC is mainly to pave the way for lots more OOC games against other power conference teams but also to preserve rivalries that would otherwise be lost to realignment like Bedlam. It could also lead to the Border War between KU and Mizzou being revived annually.
Also these could be the Thanksgiving weekend games:
Arizona-Arizona State
BYU-Utah
Cincinnati-Iowa State
Colorado-Oklahoma State
Kansas-Kansas State
UCF-West Virginia
The Texas schools can take turns playing each other at the end of the season, since there are no two rivalries that really stand out among them.
No! No conference will drop to seven. All will stay at eight or nine. The networks that pay big money want more not less conference games. You keep making the same lame comment. You’re in the minority in less conference games are better. I want to play conference rivals more not less.
Bad idea Z-man
Hallo Z-Man,
I’m glad 2 C your creative, schedule outside the Box alternate View.
Again, most conference games are not attractive ratings-wise. It’s the OOC clashes between powers that pay the bills.
I don’t why the word “pod” became the word used for “four team division” but it sucks and I hate it.
BB, the Pac-12 for over a decade consisted of three four-team rivalry pods, and it worked at least until UCLA and USC announced their departures for the Big Ten then all heck breaking loose.
It was interesting to see if teams from California, Four Corners States, and Pacific Northwest were able to sweep all their pod rivals in a given season. It happened more often than not.
My proposed Big 12 schedule format allows the Four Corners schools from the Pac-12 to still be part of a rivalry pod, but with BYU replacing Colorado against Arizona, Arizona State and Utah and Colorado now being part of a pod with Kansas, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State – all rivals that date to when the Big 12 was the Big 8.
I think the problem here is… if you don’t convince all the conferences to open up more OOC games, there just won’t be enough attractive OOC opponents to fill these spots. 16 teams trying to fill 5 OOC slots each is 80 games! If you include Notre Dame, next year the ACC, SEC, and Big 10 will add up to 52 teams. Even if you figure 2 games against non-power teams, that’s 48 games. You’d be trying to schedule every single other power conference team minus 4. A bunch of these Big 12 teams are not going to get 3-4 of those on their schedule.
Also, you make the case that conference games don’t pay the bills, that it’s big time OOC games that do. Ok, but… as much as I love a bunch of these Big 12 teams, you think that Kansas (football) vs ANYONE is a big time OOC matchup? Even with them being improved, ranked, etc…? I mean, look at how everyone looked at TCU’s phenomenal run last year. You think that, if they took one of the 5 empty schedule slots and scheduled a Michigan series, that anyone is going to consider that a big time OOC game? It might get some buzz because “rematch” or “revenge” or whatever. And of course it would get a bump because a bunch of people watch ANY Michigan football game. You think that anyone outside of the states of Kansas or Missouri would think that rivalry is a bigger game than KU vs Oklahoma State or KU vs Houston? I’m all for reviving that historic rivalry, but 5 slots is wayyyy more than you need. If they’re going to revive it they could do so with 4… or even 3 (see Iowa State). If they aren’t going to revive it, 5 slots won’t change their minds. Most of these hypothetical OCC games would have the same level of prestige as your average conference game. The ones that would get more attention would be because Ohio State, or Texas, or USC, or Penn State, or Notre Dame bring the increased viewership regardless of who they play, and if those teams are working on the same theory you are, they want to play each other more than they want to play Arizona State.
I think part of the trick here is that, beyond the games between LSU and FSU… USC and Georgia… Texas and Ohio State… the next best thing you can do is provide good games with some backstory. And it’s hard to get any backstory when the teams play each other twice every decade or whatever.
And finally, a flaw that conference expansion seems likely to run into, even with 8 or 9 conference games, is that conf championship games are going to be meetings of teams with random and uneven schedules that will almost always come down to a bunch of tiebreakers in the conference standings. A seven game conference record to decide which 2 of 16 teams should play each other would likely become comical with how deep into tie-breakers you’d have to dive. At that point you could almost pick the teams out of a hat.
Outside the box thinking but for it to work, all the conferences would have to agree to drop to seven or eight conference games. I doubt this will happen, because part of the appeal for conferences to have more conference games is to have the Ohio States visit the Indianas more often or the Alabamas visit the Kentuckys more often etc. That’s what the conferences want.
Dang it!!! I have to wait until 2026 to see the Hypnotoads in Orlando???
Will,
That’s 20 -28 regular season Games & 2 Football Playoff cycles away.
I will say, I’m a little surprised that they went a route where some of the teams don’t have any opponents they play every year. I know the SEC has looked at 9 game 3-6-6 model and a 8 game 1-7-7 model where you either play 3 annual rivals and a mix of 6 other teams (creating a 4 year cycle to play every team at every location), or 1 annual rival and 7 other teams, (also creating a 4 year cycle where you play every team in every location). Especially given that some of the “classic” Big 12 teams have been playing each other annually for a while, this feels weird.
Some of the games that have been annual for a while that will end up with a break include Baylor/TTU (the BUTT Boal!) which has been played 80 times and hasn’t been missed since 1955, and KSU-ISU (Farmageddon!) which has been played 106(!) times… 107 this year… and apparently has been played without interruption since 1917!
I understand that the rivalries would be complicated to create. Some of these teams would have to include someone they’ve almost never played if you were trying to get 3 rivals each. And there aren’t nice neat groups of 4 since there are five “4 corners” schools, five former Big 8 schools, five schools with SWC history, three former Big 12 South schools, three schools that are east of the traditional Big 12 region. It doesn’t divide up very tidy.
My strategy would probably have been to toss Houston in with UCF, WVU, and Cincy… kept the Big 12 South divide on for Oklahoma State and put them with TCU, Baylor, and TTU… threw Colorado back with their Big 8/Big 12 North brethren in KSU, ISU, and Kansas… and kept the Utah and Arizona schools in their pairs. Play everyone in your group annually, and play everyone else twice every 4 years. I’m sure Houston, OSU, and Colorado wouldn’t find this perfect, but you’d still be playing everyone else twice in 4 years! And it gives everyone decent “rivalry week” options if they want them! (I’d argue that Houston/UCF is actually a decent option, OSU/TTU makes a lot of sense unless they overthink it as the junior Red River Rivalry. Colorado is trickier, but… if you move Farmageddon to Rivalry week, CU/KU might have some potential? Of course, CU and ISU are also both teams that play a non-conf game against their in-state rivals, so… maybe you just shrug that one off?
It feels like it would be better than some teams just not having anyone to continue or build an annual rivalry with.
Jeff,
Your 3rd to last Paragraph sums up my position.
IMO, you can’t fake a Rivalry.
BYU-UUtah
UA-ASU
BaylorU-TCU
KU-KSU
established.
ISU-UI
CSU-CU
are OOC established.
When something’s not Tidy: leaving it untidy & seeing what the Franchises develope is a fun, unknown, unpredictable, Fandom place to be.
I’m giving an example of a realignment ‘rivalry’ which was made fun of to the point of clown nation status. 2011 – 2023 PAC12 Buffaloes Vs. Utes
Jeff, you did a better job than the Big 12. My only difference from your plan would put ISU with the three eastern schools (WVU, Cincy, and UCF aka Florida Tech) to keep the 4 Texas schools in one scheduling pod. If the schedules are divided up into four pods of four schools, each school would play the 3 in their pod every year and one home and one road against each of the other three pods every year. That way the 12 non-Texas schools could have one home and one road game against a Texas school annually. I hate to sacrifice annual Farmageddon, however a little edge in Texas recruiting could soften the blow. Plus, it would/could be played every other year in the out-of-pod rotation. Every school wants to recruit in Texas and having one road game in the Lone Star state every year would go a long way in spreading the recruiting wealth around. The four Big 8 (minus ISU) schools (CU, OSU, KU, KSU) would be in a pod as well as the Arizona and Utah four in a pod. But no matter how you form the pods, the 3-6-6 format is the best way to go.
Yeahhh, ISU gets screwed in too many of these models. They have real, long term rivalries with KU and KSU. Both of those rivalries are 100+ games (101 and 106, respectively), and for me that means they should get priority over almost everything.
I can see an argument to be made about Oklahoma State, who spent years as a Big 12 South member and has played TTU (50) and Baylor (42) a bunch as a result… but who has also played the remaining Big 8 members a bunch (47, 58, 67, 74) . I can see some complex decisions when it comes to Colorado who has gotten used to playing 4-corners schools but has Big 8 history as well.
Houston, though…? They were one of the shortest-term SWC members. They weren’t in the Big 12 after that. They’ve played Cincinnati as much as they’ve played Baylor. The only Big 12 Texas team they have a long rivalry with is TTU. They make sense to play other eastern Metro teams in Cincy and UCF. WVU makes geographic sense for the other 2.
Also, I know that your idea that playing them as a tidy “Texas pod” sounds like it would improve everyone’s recruiting visit schedule, but… if you just do a 3-6-6 model, everyone plays in Texas the same number of times as they would in your model. Remember, in an 3-6-6 model, you play your rivals every year, plus you play everyone else in both a home game and an away game over a 4 year period. So, minimum, every team plays in Texas 4 times every 4 years, and if you want to tweak it so that every team goes once a year, you could do that. If Houston isn’t in the same clump, that just means the eastern teams (plus Oklahoma State) get to Texas even more often since it wouldn’t just be Texas teams that play them annually. I imagine those east schools would be happy knowing that they have a permanent rival game in Texas every other year (plus the same in Florida!) before you even get into the fact that, instead of just 4 visits, those teams would get to Texas 5 times in 4 years (Houston twice, plus the other 3 once).
Looks like the scheduling model they went with is:
8 teams have “pattern A” where they have 1 archrival (played all 4 years), 4 “elevated” rivals (played 3 out of 4 years), and 10 opponents they play 2 out of every 4 years. These teams (paired with their archrival) are:
Arizona-Arizona State
BYU-Utah
Baylor-TCU
Kansas-Kansas State
8 teams have “pattern B” where they have no archrival but play 6 “elevated” rivals (again, played 3 out of 4 years) and 9 opponents that they play 2 out of every 4 years. The teams that didn’t get a permanent rival but get more “elevated” rivals are:
Colorado
Texas Tech
Houston
Oklahoma State
Iowa State
Cincinnati
West Virginia
UCF
Will be interesting to see if they continue this pattern after 2027. On one hand, I’m not entirely sure if it’s possible to keep alternating locations the way they managed here (it’s actually pretty impressive), when some games are being played 4/4, some 3/4, and some 2/4… I’d have to think about it wayyy too long. I’m sure they have an app for that. But also, I imagine that they’re also considering that there could be more realignment on the horizon, between the seeing if the new ACC expansion and revenue situations will appease FSU and others, or if it will make things more heated, and seeing whether the Big 10 or SEC decide that they’re still looking to poach. Heck, they may even change their minds on Washington State and Oregon State if they somehow inherit a bunch of money as the last members of the Pac 12. It’s not impossible to think that in a few years there could be more schools incoming or outgoing (or both) to the Big 12, so planning too far ahead may not be worth it. But it’s still unfortunate to see some long-time annual rivalries be relegated to “three out of four years” and it’s odd that 8 teams won’t have ANY constant opponent on their conference slate.
Also BB, the pod format as I am suggesting would be done in a much better way than when the WAC tried it nearly 3 decades ago. BYU, TCU and Utah were part of the WAC at that time, and because the format had so many shortcomings, we have the MW today while the WAC is no longer an FBS conference.
Z-Man,
True.
My pod format could also allow the four Texas schools to play for a trophy that goes to the team in the pod with the best H2H record against the others (winning it outright would require a sweep, a two-way tie at 2-1 would go to the H2H winner, a three-way tie at 2-1 would award the trophy based on cumulative points scored), perhaps named for Howard Grubbs, who played for TCU as QB, then as SWC commissioner oversaw the admissions of Texas Tech and Houston into the conference.
That’s too many intra-pod games. Instead of 3 intra pod games it should be dropped to 2 and allow for more juicy inter-pod games. Just saying….
114% Fan of nine game Football Confernce schedule for Big 12 however as a Oklahoma State Fan I would like to see Bedlam Oklahoma continue as A yearly non conference game similar to Iowa State Iowa & As A Arizona state Fan happy that duel in the Desert vs Arizona is preserved. Go Oklahoma State Cowboys!!! Go Arizona State Cowboys!!!