Tag: Big 12 Schedule

Big 12 Football Strength of Schedule Rankings 2023

Who has the easiest and hardest football schedules in the Big 12 this season? We rank them from the nastiest to the lightest.

Big 12 football strength of schedule rankings. Who has it easiest and who has the nasties schedule going into the 2023 season?

Big 12 Football Strength of Schedule 2023

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The world of the Big 12 is interesting with four new programs – BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF – coming aboard, and with Texas and Oklahoma just hanging around until it can bold for the SEC in 2024.

For this year, who has the easiest and hardest schedules to go through?

This is hardly an exact science – the idea is to get it as close to the pin as possible – but for now, we’re going off our 2023 College Football Rankings 1-133: First Look. Once we do the full-on 2023 Preview and finish up with every team and the preseason rankings, we’ll change this up.

But you’ll get the idea.

Here’s how we did this. If it’s a home game, take the first look ranking and that’s the score. So, if Iowa State is ranked 50th in this first round – remember, it can and will all change after we get through the whole offseason – a home game counts for 50 points. A road date gets cut in half, so playing the Cyclones on the road counts for 25 points. Any game against an FCS team counts as 134 points, and neutral site dates are scored like a home game.

The lower the overall score, the harder the schedule, so …

Ranked from the hardest schedule to the easiest.

1. West Virginia

Score: 431 It’s far tougher than it looks. The date at Penn State is the killer, hosting Pitt, and five road Big 12 road games will make it a grind.

Sept 2 at Penn State
Sept 9 Duquesne
Sept 16 Pitt
Sept 23 at Texas Tech
Sept 30 TCU
Oct 7 OPEN DATE
Oct 12 at Houston
Oct 21 Oklahoma State
Oct 28 at UCF
Nov 4 BYU
Nov 11 at Oklahoma
Nov 18 Cincinnati
Nov 25 at Baylor
– 2023 West Virginia Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

2. Iowa State

Score: 450 The overall score makes it harder with the odd road game at Ohio, it’s going to Oklahoma – along with four other Big 12 road games – that makes it tough.

Sept 2 Northern Iowa
Sept 9 Iowa
Sept 16 at Ohio
Sept 23 Oklahoma State
Sept 30 at Oklahoma
Oct 7 TCU
Oct 14 at Cincinnati
Oct 21 OPEN DATE
Oct 28 at Baylor
Nov 4 Kansas
Nov 11 at BYU
Nov 18 Texas
Nov 25 at Kansas State
– 2023 Iowa State Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

3. Kansas

Score: 452 Not getting to play West Virginia is part of reason for the tough schedule ranking, Going to Nevada – technically – brings it down, and playing Illinois doesn’t help.

Aug 31 Missouri State
Sept 9 Illinois
Sept 16 at Nevada
Sept 23 BYU
Sept 30 at Texas
Oct 7 UCF
Oct 14 at Oklahoma State
Oct 21 OPEN DATE
Oct 28 Oklahoma
Nov 4 at Iowa State
Nov 11 Texas Tech
Nov 18 Kansas State
Nov 25 at Cincinnati
– 2023 Kansas Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

4. Texas Tech

Score: 455.5 Like the other teams on this with the toughest slates, Texas Tech has to play five Big 12 road games. That, and the trip to Wyoming cuts down the overall score. Dealing with Oregon is no prize, either.

Sept 2 at Wyoming
Sept 9 Oregon
Sept 16 Tarleton State
Sept 23 at West Virginia
Sept 30 Houston
Oct 7 at Baylor
Oct 14 Kansas State
Oct 21 at BYU
Oct 28 OPEN DATE
Nov 2 TCU
Nov 11 at Kansas
Nov 18 UCF
Nov 24 at Texas
– 2023 Texas Tech Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

5. Texas

Score: 403 Start with a road game at Alabama, and the overall toughness score can only go up from there. Going to TCU doesn’t help.

Sept 2 Rice
Sept 9 at Alabama
Sept 16 Wyoming
Sept 23 at Baylor
Sept 30 Kansas
Oct 7 Oklahoma (in Dallas)
Oct 14 OPEN DATE
Oct 21 at Houston
Oct 28 BYU
Nov 4 Kansas State
Nov 11 at TCU
Nov 18 at Iowa State
Nov 24 Texas Tech
– 2023 Texas Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

6. Houston

Score: 496.5 This is a tad wrong, because going to Rice really shouldn’t be counted as a true road game, but it is. There are a slew of Big 12 games that should be winnable, but they’re on the road.

Sept 2 UTSA
Sept 9 at Rice
Sept 16 TCU
Sept 23 Sam Houston
Sept 30 at Texas Tech
Oct 7 OPEN DATE
Oct 12 West Virginia
Oct 21 Texas
Oct 28 at Kansas State
Nov 4 at Baylor
Nov 11 Cincinnati
Nov 18 Oklahoma State
Nov 25 at UCF
– 2023 Houston Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

7. Kansas State

Score: 509.5 It’s got a nice blend of total layups and interesting – but winnable – road games. Missing Oklahoma and Kansas State helps in a huge way.

Sept 2 SE Missouri State
Sept 9 Troy
Sept 16 at Missouri
Sept 23 UCF
Sept 30 OPEN DATE
Oct 6 at Oklahoma State
Oct 14 at Texas Tech
Oct 21 TCU
Oct 28 Houston
Nov 4 at Texas
Nov 11 Baylor
Nov 18 at Kansas
Nov 25 Iowa State
– 2023 Kansas State Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

8. BYU

Score: 512 The road trip to Arkansas makes up for the lightweight home non-conference games. Five Big 12 road games – including at TCU and Texas – makes this rough.

Sept 2 Sam Houston
Sept 9 Southern Utah
Sept 16 at Arkansas
Sept 23 at Kansas
Sept 29 Cincinnati
Oct 7 OPEN DATE
Oct 14 at TCU
Oct 21 Texas Tech
Oct 28 at Texas
Nov 4 at West Virginia
Nov 11 Iowa State
Nov 18 Oklahoma
Nov 25 at Oklahoma State
– 2023 BYU Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

9. Oklahoma

Score: 544 It’s not a tough schedule if Oklahoma is back to being Oklahoma. Sort of like Houston going to Rice, yeah, going to Oklahoma State is a road game, but it’s not a taxing trip.

Sept 2 Arkansas State
Sept 9 SMU
Sept 16 at Tulsa
Sept 23 at Cincinnati
Sept 30 Iowa State
Oct 7 Texas (in Dallas)
Oct 14 OPEN DATE
Oct 21 UCF
Oct 28 at Kansas
Nov 4 at Oklahoma State
Nov 11 West Virginia
Nov 18 at BYU
Nov 24 TCU
– 2023 Oklahoma Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

10. TCU

Score: 546.5 The non-conference slate couldn’t be much easier – even with Colorado on it – and there are enough easy games at home to roll through most of this if the team is close to as good as last year.

Sept 2 Colorado
Sept 9 Nicholls
Sept 16 at Houston
Sept 23 SMU
Sept 30 West Virginia
Oct 7 at Iowa State
Oct 14 BYU
Oct 21 at Kansas State
Oct 28 OPEN DATE
Nov 2 at Texas Tech
Nov 11 Texas
Nov 18 Baylor
Nov 24 at Oklahoma
– 2023 TCU Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

11. Baylor

Score: 550 It’s not that easy overall with Utah a tough home game, but the Big 12 home games are all very, very winnable, including Texas.

Sept 2 Texas State
Sept 9 Utah
Sept 16 Long Island
Sept 23 Texas
Sept 30 at UCF
Oct 7 Texas Tech
Oct 14 OPEN DATE
Oct 21 at Cincinnati
Oct 28 Iowa State
Nov 4 Houston
Nov 11 at Kansas State
Nov 18 at TCU
Nov 25 West Virginia
– 2023 Baylor Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

12. Oklahoma State

Score: 550 The schedule is actually easier than this considering Arizona State might need a while to be tough again. Road games at Iowa State, West Virginia, and against two of the Big 12 newbies makes this very, very manageable.

Sept 2 Central Arkansas
Sept 9 at Arizona State
Sept 16 South Alabama
Sept 23 at Iowa State
Sept 30 OPEN DATE
Oct 6 Kansas State
Oct 14 Kansas
Oct 21 at West Virginia
Oct 28 Cincinnati
Nov 4 Oklahoma
Nov 11 at UCF
Nov 18 at Houston
Nov 25 BYU
– 2023 Oklahoma State Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

13. UCF

Score: 572 The schedule looks a tad tougher than it is. The home games are all fine, and the Knights should be able to take down their share of road dates at places like – potentially – Kansas and Cincinnati.

Aug 31 Kent State
Sept 9 at Boise State
Sept 16 Villanova
Sept 23 at Kansas State
Sept 30 Baylor
Oct 7 at Kansas
Oct 12 OPEN DATE
Oct 21 at Oklahoma
Oct 28 West Virginia
Nov 4 at Cincinnati
Nov 11 Oklahoma State
Nov 18 at Texas Tech
Nov 25 Houston
– 2023 UCF Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

14. Cincinnati

Score: 590.5 The home games against Eastern Kentucky and Miami University are a big, big help to ease the way into the Big 12 season. There are just four conference road games, and two of them are against Houston and West Virginia. There’s no Kansas State, TCU, or Texas to deal with.

Sept 2 Eastern Kentucky
Sept 9 at Pitt
Sept 16 Miami University
Sept 23 Oklahoma
Sept 29 at BYU
Oct 7 OPEN DATE
Oct 14 Iowa State
Oct 21 Baylor
Oct 28 at Oklahoma State
Nov 4 UCF
Nov 11 at Houston
Nov 18 at West Virginia
Nov 25 Kansas
– 2023 Cincinnati Schedule Breakdown, 3 Things To Know

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2023 College Football Rankings 1-133: First Look

Texas vs. Oklahoma: Who got the tougher 2023 Big 12 schedule?

Greg McElroy believes Oklahoma got the short end of the stick from the Big 12.

Texas and Oklahoma are preparing for their future move to the SEC but are spending at least one more season in the new-look Big 12. The Conference announced its 2023 schedule recently, including the four programs joining the league.

College football analyst Greg McElroy believes Oklahoma got the short end of the stick from the Big 12. He spoke on the difficulty of the Sooners’ schedule on the Always College Football show.

“I happen to think when you look at it, though, I mean, it’s definitely possible that they could have a bit of an improvement, but you look at the schedule man, I thought they got dealt the more difficult hand when comparing them to the Longhorns, partly because all four of their road opponents if you count the neutral site game against Texas, they all competed in bowl games last year.”

The Sooners look to get back into Big 12 title contention in 2023 but have a few challenging road games on their slate. Oklahoma faces away games against Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, BYU and Kansas next season.

On the flip side, Texas plays most of its away games in close proximity. The Longhorns only leave the state of Texas twice in 2023.

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Big 12 Football: 2023 national signing day team recruiting rankings

Texas and Oklahoma are in a familiar place on top of the Big 12 class rankings.

We have made it to the long-awaited 2023 national signing day. The majority of the 2023 recruiting cycle is coming to a close after a wild year of storylines in the Big 12

Texas and Oklahoma are in a familiar place on top of the Big 12 class rankings.

The Longhorns signed their highest-rated class since 2010, led by five-star quarterback Arch Manning, while the Sooners are not far behind in Brent Venables’ first complete recruiting cycle as head coach.

TCU and Texas Tech built solid classes under first-year coaches Sonny Dykes and Joey McGuire. The Texas schools sit in the top 30 nationally in the 247Sports composite.

Kansas State wraps up the league’s top five after its Big 12 title season in 2022. The Wildcats landed a blue-chip quarterback prospect, four-star Avery Johnson.

Recruiting in the Big 12 is competitive as ever. Here’s a look at where each Big 12 team’s recruiting class ranks for the 2023 cycle on national signing day.

Texas’ 2023 football schedule officially released

Here is a complete look at Texas’ 2023 football schedule. 

The long wait for the 2023 Big 12 football schedule is finally over. The conference announced the full slate of games with the four new additions to the league included.

Texas has six home games, five road games and its annual neutral site game against Oklahoma in Dallas. Steve Sarkisian’s squad has to leave the state of Texas only twice in 2023.

Texas opens the year by welcoming the Rice Owls to town on Sept. 2 before its premier matchup against Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Wyoming comes to Austin to wrap up the nonconference slate.

Two new Big 12 programs are featured on Texas’ schedule this season. The Longhorns will travel to Houston and host BYU in October. Texas will not  play normal foes Oklahoma State and West Virginia in the regular season.

The 2023 season might be Texas’ last chance to win another Big 12 title before departing to the SEC.

Here is a complete look at Texas’ 2023 football schedule.

Oklahoma Sooners full 2023 football schedule released

The official Oklahoma Sooners 2023 football schedule.

The Oklahoma Sooners 2023 schedule is official with the release of the Big 12 schedule on Tuesday afternoon.

The entrance of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF, and the departure of Oklahoma and Texas provided intrigue to this years’ schedule release. Conference realignment disrupted the natural flow of home dates for the Big 12.

After some initial delay, first-year commissioner Brett Yormark has his first schedule in an expanded Big 12.

We’ve known the nonconference schedule for sometime, though there was an adjustment on the fly after Georgia and Oklahoma mutually agreed to cancel their nonconference home and home with the Sooners moving to the SEC in 2025 at the latest. Joe Castiglione replaced the Bulldogs with SMU on the fly to provide the Sooners a solid Group of Five foe.

With an expanded Big 12 for at least this season, here’s a look at the Oklahoma Sooners 2023 football schedule.

Five bold predictions for No. 23 Texas vs. Baylor

Does Bijan Robinson have another career performance in store?

No. 23 Texas will host Baylor in a battle of in-state rivals for the regular season finale on Friday. Continue reading “Five bold predictions for No. 23 Texas vs. Baylor”

Texas baseball releases full 2023 schedule

Texas baseball put together an exciting schedule for the 2023 campaign.

Texas baseball has released its full 2023 schedule with many intriguing matchups on the horizon.

The Longhorns open their season with a few SEC battles in Arlington. Texas plays Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Missouri at Globe Life Field on Feb. 17-19.

Texas makes the trip out west for a three-game series vs. Cal State Fullerton in March. The two blue blood programs are getting together for the first time since 2020.

The rest of the nonconference slate is highlighted by midweek games against the likes of LSU and Texas A&M.

The Big 12’s round-robin schedule features every team facing each other in the regular season. Texas host Texas Tech, Kansas State, Oklahoma and West Virginia. The Horns travel to Big 12 foes Baylor, TCU, Kansas and Oklahoma State.

Here is a complete look at Texas’ 2023 schedule as the new look Horns hope to make it to the College World Series for the third straight season.

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No. 18 Texas opens up as touchdown favorites over No. 4 TCU

Teas enters as the favorite vs. unbeaten TCU.

No. 18 Texas (6-3, 4-2) opens up as a seven-point favorite over No. 4 TCU (9-0, 6-0) heading into its Week 11 matchup.

ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Texas 73% odds of beating TCU on Saturday.

Texas does have the advantage of playing in front of what should be a wild home crowd. Fans are undoubtedly ready to pack DKR for this top 25 Big 12 battle.

The Longhorns are coming in with some newly built momentum after a massive road victory over a top-15 Kansas State squad. Star running back Bijan Robinson ran for over 200 yards and Texas’ defense forced two crucial turnovers in the win.

TCU enters with an unbeaten record on the season. New head coach Sonny Dykes has done wonders in his first season in Fort Worth. The Frogs have their eyes on a potential College Football Playoff birth heading down the year’s final stretch.

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Big 12 Power Rankings following Week 9: TCU and Kansas State stay hot

TCU and Kansas State sit on top of the Big 12.

Eight Big 12 Conference teams were in action during Week 9 of the college football season. Texas and Kansas enjoyed a bye week while the rest of the league offered some great games.

TCU and Kansas State proved themselves as the front runners in the conference with big-time victories.

The Horned Frogs stayed undefeated with a 41-31 road win over West Virginia. Max Duggan threw three touchdown passes to help TCU improve to 8-0.

Kansas State bounced back from its Week 8 loss to TCU with a rout over Oklahoma State. The Wildcats demolished the Cowboys from the jump, winning by a score of 48-0.

Baylor took down Texas Tech in front of a hostile crowd in Lubbock. The Bears played their best game of the season, pulling away late for a comfortable 45-17 win.

The Oklahoma Sooners are winners of two straight after being left for dead following their loss to Texas. They gutted out a nice road win over a tough Iowa State defense. The Cyclones drop to 0-5 in Big 12 play.

Here is a look at our updated Big 12 power rankings following Week 9’s slate of games.

What could Oklahoma’s 2023 and 2024 schedules look like in an expanded Big 12?

What could schedules in 2023 and 2024 look like for the Oklahoma Sooners in an expanded Big 12?

On Tuesday at Big 12 media days, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark reiterated that Oklahoma and Texas would remain in the conference for the next two years before making the jump to the SEC in the fall of 2025 after the current grant of rights agreement expires.

According to Yormark, Oklahoma and Texas have committed to Yormark that they’ll be present for the 2023 season when the Big 12 welcomes in new members BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF. The new 14-team conference won’t have divisions. Instead, the two teams with the best record will meet for the Big 12 championship game.

So what could the schedules look like for Oklahoma over the next two years in Big 12 play? As we attempted to work through what a potential schedule could look like, we wanted to make sure a few things landed.

Oklahoma needs to play Texas (because, of course) and Oklahoma State twice. After 2024, we have no clue when Bedlam will be replayed. So the Big 12 will want to make sure that game happens while it can.

Here are a few other scheduling “rules” we came up with for both Oklahoma and Texas that honors historical and regional matchups before the Sooners and Longhorns leave for the SEC.

  • Oklahoma would play Texas twice and former Big 8 conference mates Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Kansas, and Iowa State in home-and-home contests over the next two years.
  • Oklahoma would play two of the four current Big 12 schools (Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, and West Virginia) in 2023 and the other two in 2024.
  • Oklahoma would play two of the four new members (BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF) in 2023 and the other two in 2024.
  • Texas would play Oklahoma twice and home-and-home series against Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, and West Virginia over the next two seasons.
  • Texas would play two of the four remaining Big 12 schools (Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State) in 2023 and the other two in 2024
  • Texas would play two of the four new members (BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF) in 2023 and the other two in 2024.
  • Oklahoma and Texas would split home games with the new members. OU would play Cincinnati and Houston at home, while Texas would play UCF and BYU at home.

In this format, half of the current Big 12 would get home-and-homes with Oklahoma, and half would get home-and-homes with Texas. Oklahoma and Texas would play everyone at least once, and schools that don’t get home games against Oklahoma would get home dates against Texas and vice versa.

So with that groundwork laid, let’s take a look at what schedules could look like for Oklahoma in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Oklahoma has yet to fill their final nonconference game for the 2024 season, but we left an open week for Joe Castiglione to work with.