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Amid exciting, yet turbulent times, the Big 12 has released its 2023 football schedules that welcomes the arrival of former independent BYU as well as three teams from the American Athletic Conference - Cincinnati, Houston and UCF.
The additions temporarily expand the conference's membership to 14 teams, but that will be reduced as early as next season when Texas and Oklahoma are expected to make their transition to the SEC.
Speaking of Texas and Oklahoma, the Longhorns and Sooners are the only Big 12 teams among the top 20 best odds at the FanDuel Sportsbook for capturing the 2023 national championship, and they sit at Nos. 14 and 16, respectively with odds of +3000 and +5000.
Cincinnati is the only conference team operating under a new head coach. Scott Satterfield moves in from Louisville after Luke Fickell left for Wisconsin.
Defending conference champion Kansas State opens on August 31st at home against FCS member Missouri State.
Last years' national championship runner-up, TCU, kicks off the 2023 slate at home against Colorado and new head coach Deion Sanders on September 2.
“I would like to thank our fans for their patience awaiting this historic schedule,” said Commissioner Brett Yormark. “Given its importance, the complexities of weaving in four new schools, adding a third time zone and ensuring alignment with key stakeholders we were very deliberate with its development. I look forward to another highly competitive season of Big 12 football, and to welcoming our new members and their fans into the league.”
Each team will play nine league games without divisions. The top two finishers by conference win percentage in the regular season standings will compete for the league title in the Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship Game, on Saturday, December 2nd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The 28th season of Big 12 football begins on September 16th with incoming member Houston hosting TCU. Defending Big 12 champion K-State opens conference play against UCF on September 23rd. A full slate of seven games closes out the Conference season over Thanksgiving weekend.
Television selections for the first three weeks of the season are due to the Conference by June 1, 2023.
The Bears start the season on Labor Day weekend at home with a visit from in-state foe Texas State out of the Sun Belt. It will be the 10th meeting all-time in the series, and the the third in as many seasons. Baylor has never lost to the San Marcos school, who they first played three times between 1909 and 1916.
Week two features the school's first-ever meeting with Utah as the Utes travel southeast to Waco. Utah also ventured east at the beginning of last season, and famously lost at Florida.
The Bears will take on three of the four newcomers with a trip to UCF at the end of September, a visit to Cincinnati on October 21, and a home date with Houston on November 4. Baylor lost its only previous game with the Knight 52-42 in the 2013 season Fiesta Bowl, and has never played the Bearcats. The last meeting against the Cougars occurred in 1995 which was the final season of the old Southwest Conference and Baylor holds a slim 14-13-1 advantage in that series.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Texas State
9/9 – Utah
9/16 – Long Island
9/23 – Texas
9/30 – at UCF
10/7 – Texas Tech
10/14 – OFF
10/21 – at Cincinnati
10/28 – Iowa State
11/4 – Houston
11/11 – at Kansas State
11/18 – at TCU
11/25 – West Virginia
BYU will operate within a conference structure for the first time since leaving the Mountain West after the 2010 season. The Cougars will open against FBS newcomer Sam Houston, the FCS National Champions in the Covid season of 2020-2021.
BYU keeps its FCS theme in week two and plays current member Southern Utah before heading to Arkansas for an SEC clash on September 16. The schools had their first-ever meeting in Provo last October 15 with the visiting Hogs taking home a 52-35 victory.
The opening conference game for the Cougars will come at Kansas in September 23.
Interestingly, BYU will play only one of the other three newcomers and that contest will be at home against Cincinnati on September 30.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Sam Houston
9/9 – Southern Utah
9/16 – at Arkansas
9/23 – at Kansas
9/30 – Cincinnati
10/7 – OFF
10/14 – TCU
10/21 – Texas Tech
10/28 – at Texas
11/4 – at West Virginia
11/11 – Iowa State
11/18 – Oklahoma
11/25 – at Oklahoma State
New head coach Scott Satterfield moves over from Louisville after Luke Fickell left for Wisconsin. Cincinnati will face all three of its fellow Big 12 newcomers, and draws a home game with Oklahoma in its conference opener.
The Bearcats will visit Pitt for their first game against the Panthers since the last season of the Big East in 2012.
Cincinnati gets Miami (Ohio) at home on September 16th for the 127th meeting between the two schools whose campuses are roughly 30 miles apart.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Eastern Kentucky
9/9 – at Pittsburgh
9/16 – Miami (Ohio)
9/23 – Oklahoma
9/29 – at BYU
10/7 – OFF
10/14 – Iowa State
10/21 – Baylor
10/28 – at Oklahoma State
11/4 – UCF
11/11 – at Houston
11/18 – at West Virginia
11/25 – Kansas
Outgoing QB Clayton Tune is listed as +8000 to be the first quarterback taken in the NFL draft. Yes, there are odds for which quarterback will be taken first.
Houston will face fellow newcomers, and old American Conference rivals, Cincinnati and UCF as two of its final three games of the year. The Cougars won't have to meet the incoming Cougars of BYU.
Houston is the second Big 12 school to host FBS newcomer Sam Houston (9/23) while the other two non-conference games feature a home date with UTSA and a 4-mile trek to Rice.
Houston, of course, faced some of these teams as a former member of the Southwest Conference and last played Texas Tech a year ago. However, the Cougars haven't played TCU since the 2007 Texas Bowl. They also last messed with Texas in 2002 and haven't faced Baylor since the final season of the SWC in 1995.
This year will also mark Houston's first meeting with Kansas State and West Virginia
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – UTSA
9/9 – at Rice
9/16 – TCU
9/23 – Sam Houston
9/30 – at Texas Tech
10/7 – OFF
10/12 – West Virginia
10/21 – Texas
10/28 – at Kansas State
11/4 – at Baylor
11/11 – Cincinnati
11/18 – Oklahoma State
11/25 – at UCF
The Cyclones will take on two of the four newcomers as they hit the road for Cincinnati and BYU. They've never played the Bearcats, and are 4-0 all-time vs. the Cougars whom they last met in 1974.
Iowa State opens at home against Northern Iowa, which is still a state rival regardless of its residency in the FCS. The Cyclones lead the series 24-6-3. Then, comes an even bigger rival - also at home - when Iowa comes calling. The Hawkeyes hold a 46-23 edge.
Iowa State heads to Ohio in week 3 after bashing the Bobcats 43-10 at home last year to run their all-time record to 8-0 in the series, but this is just the second-ever meeting in Athens after Iowa State escaped with a 31-28 win in 2001.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Northern Iowa
9/9 – Iowa
9/16 – at Ohio
9/23 – Oklahoma State
9/30 – at Oklahoma
10/7 – TCU
10/14 – at Cincinnati
10/21 – at Baylor
10/28 – OFF
11/4 – Kansas
11/11 – at BYU
11/18 – Texas
11/25 – at Kansas State
The Jayhawks shot out of the gate with a 5-0 start a year ago, but the first five opponents are completely different this year.
Kansas will open with a FCS opponent for the 14th time in the last 15 seasons. The week 2 game at home against Illinois will be the first meeting between those schools since 1968, and only the second since 1929.
Kansas heads to Reno for a first-time matchup with Nevada in week 3, and the conference opener at home against BYU will be just the second meeting all-time and the first since the 1992 Aloha Bowl.
The home date with UCF on October 7 is also a first, while the season-ending trip to Cincinnati will be the first meeting since 1997 and just the third all-time.
SCHEDULE:
8/31 – Missouri State
9/9 – Illinois
9/16 – at Nevada
9/23 – BYU
9/30 – at Texas
10/7 – UCF
10/14 – at Oklahoma State
10/21 – OFF
10/28 – Oklahoma
11/4 – at Iowa State
11/11 – Texas Tech
11/18 – Kansas State
11/25 – at Cincinnati
The defending conference champions seemingly get an easy start to their 2023 season, but beware the visit by Troy on September 9 after the Trojans went 12-2 a year and will potentially enter that game on a 12-game winning streak after they open with Stephen F. Austin.
The Wildcats face half of the 4 newcomers with home dates against UCF (9/23) and Houston (10/28).
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Southeast Missouri
9/9 – Troy
9/16 – at Missouri
9/23 – UCF
9/30 – OFF
10/6 – at Oklahoma State
10/14 – at Texas Tech
10/21 – TCU
10/28 – Houston
11/4 – at Texas
11/11 – Baylor
11/18 – at Kansas
11/25 – Iowa State
The Sooners look to regroup from a disappointing 6-7 campaign in Brent Venables inaugural season as head coach.
Oklahoma gets every newcomer except Houston with UCF at home on 10/21, and Cincinnati (9/23) and BYU (11/18) on the road.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Arkansas State
9/9 – SMU
9/16 – at Tulsa
9/23 – at Cincinnati
9/30 – Iowa State
10/7 – Texas (in Dallas)
10/14 – OFF
10/21 – UCF
10/28 – at Kansas
11/4 – at Oklahoma State
11/11 – West Virginia
11/18 – at BYU
11/24 – TCU
The Cowboys, like their rival Sooners, are looking for vast improvement in 2023 over their 7-6 finish a year ago. The 'Pokes will be looking to snap a season-ending 3-game losing streak and 1-5 finish when they open against FCS member Central Arkansas. The non-conference slate gets much tougher in weeks two and three with a trip to Arizona State and a home date against a South Alabama team that was 10-3 last season.
The visit to the Sun Devils returns the favor of ASU visiting Stillwater last year where the Cowboys won 34-17. The home date with the Jaguars marks the first meeting since 2018, but the third all together since 2017. Oklahoma State won the previous two by a combined score of 99-20.
Mike Gundy's squad plays all four conference newcomers over the last five games of the season with home dates against Cincinnati (10/28) and BYU (11/25 season finale), bookending road trips to UCF (11/11) and Houston (11/18).
In case you're wondering, Oklahoma State has never played UCF, and last played Cincinnati in 1983. In addition, the Cowboys' last meeting with BYU came in 1976, and the last time they played Houston was 2009.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Central Arkansas
9/9 – at Arizona State
9/16 – South Alabama
9/23 – at Iowa State
9/30 – OFF
10/6 – Kansas State
10/14 – Kansas
10/21 – at West Virginia
10/28 – Cincinnati
11/4 – Oklahoma
11/11 – at UCF
11/18 – at Houston
11/25 – BYU
As mentioned at the top of this article, last years' national championship runner-up kicks off the 2023 slate at home against Colorado on September 2 to mark the debut of Deion Sanders as the Buffs' head coach. These teams opened last season at Colorado.
The Horned Frogs' non-conference slate also has home dates against FCS member Nicholls on 9/9, and rival SMU on 9/23. TCU leads the series with the Mustangs, 52-42-7.
TCU will play just 2 of the 4 newcomers with a trip to Houston on 9/16 and a home date with BYU on 10/14.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Colorado
9/9 – Nicholls
9/16 – at Houston
9/23 – SMU
9/30 – West Virginia
10/7 – at Iowa State
10/14 – BYU
10/21 – at Kansas State
10/28 – OFF
11/2 – at Texas Tech
11/11 – Texas
11/18 – Baylor
11/24 – at Oklahoma
The Longhorns managed a so-so 8-5 campaign in 2022, but excitement reigns with incoming QB Arch Manning, the No. 1 over-all recruit in the country. If he lands the starting job, as expected, he will debut in Labor Day weekend at home against Rice before being tested at Alabama on 9/9.
Texas' non-conference slate wraps up with a home date against Wyoming on 9/16.
The Longhorns will only face two of the four newcomers and those games come in back-to-back weeks with a visit to Houston on 10/21 and a home game against BYU on 10/28. Texas is just 1-4 all-time against BYU, but hasn't faced those Cougars since 2014. As for the other Cougars, the last meeting with Houston came in 2002 when Texas notched a 7th straight win in that series with a 41-11 blowout in Austin.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Rice
9/9 – at Alabama
9/16 – Wyoming
9/23 – at Baylor
9/30 – Kansas
10/7 – Oklahoma (in Dallas)
10/14 – OFF
10/21 – at Houston
10/28 – BYU
11/4 – Kansas State
11/11 – at TCU
11/18 – at Iowa State
11/24 – Texas Tech
The Red Raiders were a surprising 8-5 a year ago. They open the 2023 season with 3 straight non-conference games, beginning with a trip to Wyoming on Labor Day weekend before hosting Oregon on 9/9 and finishing with FCS member Tarleton State on 9/16.
Texas Tech hasn't played Wyoming or Oregon since 1992.
They play three of the four newcomers with home dates against Houston (9/30) and UCF (11/18) and a visit to BYU (10/21).
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – at Wyoming
9/9 – Oregon
9/16 – Tarleton
9/23 – at West Virginia
9/30 – Houston
10/7 – at Baylor
10/14 – Kansas State
10/21 – at BYU
10/28 – OFF
11/2 – TCU
11/11 – at Kansas
11/18 – UCF
11/24 – at Texas
UCF will kick off its Big 12 slate at home against Kansas State on 9/23 when the Bounce House should be busting at the seams.
Before that game happens, the Knights get non-conference tune-ups against Kent State and Villanova , but also have to travel to Boise State on 9/9.
They will face two of their former AAC foes in the final month of the season with a trip to Cincinnati on 11/4 and a season-finale home game against Houston.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – Kent State
9/9 – at Boise State
9/16 – Villanova
9/23 – at Kansas State
9/30 – Baylor
10/7 – at Kansas
10/14 – OFF
10/21 – at Oklahoma
10/28 – West Virginia
11/4 – at Cincinnati
11/11 – Oklahoma State
11/18 – at Texas Tech
11/25 – Houston
West Virginia has an interesting slate that opens at Penn State and includes a visit from Pitt for continuation of the Backyard Brawl.
The Mountaineers will face all four conference newcomers over the last six weeks of their season.
SCHEDULE:
9/2 – at Penn State
9/9 – Duquesne
9/16 – Pittsburgh
9/23 – Texas Tech
9/30 – TCU
10/7 – OFF
10/12 – at Houston
10/21 – Oklahoma State
10/28 – at UCF
11/4 – BYU
11/11 – at Oklahoma
11/18 – Cincinnati
11/25 – at Baylor