This Week in the Big 12
Thursday, August 29 Time
New Hampshire at UCF (ESPN+) 7 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. CT
Lindenwood at (No. 22/24) Kansas (ESPN+) 7 p.m. CT
North Dakota State at Colorado (ESPN) 7 p.m. CT/ 6 p.m. MDT
Southern Utah at (No. 12/14) Utah (ESPN+) 8 p.m. CT/7 p.m. MDT
Friday, August 30 Time
TCU at Stanford (ESPN) 9:30 p.m. CT/ 7:30 p.m. PT
Saturday, August 31 Time
(No. 8/9) Penn State at West Virginia (FOX) Noon ET/11 a.m. CT
South Dakota State at (No. 17/18) Oklahoma State (ESPN+)1 p.m. CT
Towson at Cincinnati (ESPN+) 2:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. CT
North Dakota at Iowa State (FS1) 2:30 p.m. CT
Tarleton State at Baylor (ESPN+) 6 p.m. CT
UT Martin at Kansas State (ESPN+) 6 p.m. CT
UNLV at Houston (FS1) 6 p.m. CT
Abilene Christian at Texas Tech (ESPN+) 6:30 p.m. CT
Southern Illinois at BYU (ESPN+) 7 p.m. CT/ 6 p.m. MST
New Mexico at (No. 21/21) Arizona (ESPN) 9:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. MDT
Wyoming at Arizona State (FS1) 9:30 p.m. CT/ 7:30 p.m. MDT
Conference News & Notes
• The 2024 season will be the Big 12 Conference’s first as a 16-team league after the addition of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah this summer. The Big 12 footprint now spans 10 states, four time zones and 90 million people as it begins its 29th football season.
• The Big 12 Conference placed five teams in The Associated Press Preseason Top 25, which marked the first season with five ranked teams in the AP’s preseason poll since 2017.
• The Big 12 boasts eight running backs who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, leading all conferences nationally. The group of running backs includes the reigning Doak Walker Award winner in Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II as well as three other backs who were in the top 10 in the nation in rushing in 2023.
• Big 12 Football was featured heavily in the nation’s preeminent Preseason All-American lists with Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State), Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) and Travis Hunter (Colorado) all receiving first team nods from multiple outlets. Tahj Brooks (Texas Tech), Brant Kuithe (Utah), Luke Kandra (Cincinnati), Joe Michalski (Oklahoma State), Tacario Davis (Arizona) and LaJohntay Wester (Colorado)earned Second Team Preseason All-American honors from national media.
• Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy and Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham are both entering their 20th season at their respective institutions. The duo is tied for the second-longest active tenured coaches in the nation, trailing only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz who begins his 25th season with the Hawkeyes.
• After adding the Four Corner schools, the Big 12 Conference’s membership accounts for nine programs that played in a bowl game last season.
• The national preseason award watchlists recognized dozens of student-athletes from the Big 12’s 16 schools as the league was among the leaders in a number of prestigious awards. Eight Big 12 quarterbacks were named to the Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, which tied for the most of any conference.
• National television audiences will have all eyes on the Big 12’s inventory of games and live programming in the opening week of the season. Conference television partners, ESPN and FOX, selected seven games for national television broadcasts in addition to the Pat McAfee Show and Big Noon Kickoff airing their shows from Morgantown, West Virginia.
• The Big 12 Conference has announced the return of its Big 12 Homecoming for a second year, bringing a Conference-wide celebration of the Big 12 brand to four of its campuses this fall. The three-day events will center around entertainment, cam- pus engagement and community service for football weekends at Utah (Sept. 7), Colorado (Sept. 21), Arizona State (Oct. 5) and TCU (Oct. 26). The Big 12 will team up with brand partners at each homecoming stop, including Allstate, the College Foot- ball Playoff Foundation, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and WWE.
