The crazy world of college football is made even crazier by college sports realignment in 2024. The new-look college football schedule created by realignment has generated some amazing plot twists. For Arizona and Utah, two schools leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12, there’s a shared component to their 2024 football slates.
Both Arizona and Utah are going to play 10 Big 12 opponents in 2024, but they will play only nine conference games. Wait a minute — how is that possible? Here’s how: Arizona scheduled a nonconference game with Kansas State, and Utah scheduled a home-and-home series with Baylor, before the Pac-12 died and the Four Corners schools (Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado) left for the Big 12.
Baylor at Utah and Arizona at Kansas State are Big 12 matchups in 2024. All four teams are in the same conference. Yet, neither game will be a conference game counted in the standings. This recalls the weird scenario of North Carolina playing Wake Forest in a nonconference game — not an ACC game — over the past decade.
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