Big 12 Announces Football Early Season and Special Date TV Selections

Fresh off its first appearance in the CFP National Championship Game, the Big 12 along with its television partners ESPN and FOX Sports have announced early season and special date football selections across linear and digital platforms. The 2023 season marks the Big 12’s first as a 14-team league as it officially welcomes BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston on July 1.

The season kicks off on Thursday, August 31 as UCF hosts Kent State on FS1 and Kansas welcomes Missouri State for a matchup on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The remaining 12 games will be contested on Saturday, September 2, highlighted by two autonomy five outings. CFP National Championship runner-up TCU hosts Colorado on FOX’s opening week Big Noon Saturday matchup, with Big Noon Kickoff on-site to provide pregame coverage. Additionally, West Virginia travels to Penn State in a prime time game.

Another full slate of non-conference games is on the Week 2 schedule with seven of the 14 against A5 opponents. ESPN will feature Utah at Baylor as well as Texas at Alabama. FOX will carry the Iowa at Iowa State rivalry along with Oregon at Texas Tech. The first conference game of the season will highlight Week 3 with TCU traveling to Houston for a prime time matchup on FOX.

Times and television information are also set for the Big 12’s additional six special date selections, which are all conference matchups. Two league games are scheduled for Thursday night broadcasts while four will be played on Fridays, including a “Black Friday” double-header as the regular season wraps up over Thanksgiving weekend.

The Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship will return to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas for the ninth year. The game is slated for Saturday, December 2 with an 11:00 a.m. kickoff on ABC. The Big 12 had the second-highest attendance of last season’s conference title games with 69,335 spectators. The Championship delivered 9.4M viewers on ABC, the most-watched Big 12 Championship since 2018. It peaked at 12.7M viewers, the most of any conference championship across all networks.

The remainder of the season’s television selections will be announced on a 12-day or six-day notice via Big12Sports.com and the Conference’s official digital platforms.

Big 12 Football Early Season and Special Date Television Selections
(all times listed as Central)

Thursday, August 31
Kent State at UCF (FS1), 6:00 p.m.
Missouri State at Kansas (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 2
Colorado at TCU (FOX), 11:00 a.m.
Arkansas State at Oklahoma (ESPN), 11:00 a.m.
Northern Iowa at Iowa State (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 1:00 p.m.
Rice at Texas (FOX), 2:30 p.m.
Eastern Kentucky at Cincinnati (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 2:30 p.m.
UTSA at Houston (FS1), 6:00 p.m.
Texas State at Baylor (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at Kansas State (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m.
Central Arkansas at Oklahoma State (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m.
West Virginia at Penn State (NBC), 6:30 p.m.
Texas Tech at Wyoming (CBS), 6:30 p.m.
Sam Houston at BYU (FS1), 9:15 p.m.

Friday, September 8 or Saturday, September 9
Houston at Rice, TBD
Illinois at Kansas, TBD

Saturday, September 9
Utah at Baylor (ESPN), 11:00 a.m.
Troy at Kansas State (FS1), 11:00 a.m.
Southern Utah at BYU (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 2:00 p.m.
Iowa at Iowa State (FOX), 2:30 p.m.
SMU at Oklahoma (SoonerVision on ESPN+), 5:00 p.m.
Duquesne at West Virginia (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 5:00 p.m.
Oregon at Texas Tech (FOX), 6:00 p.m.
Texas at Alabama (ESPN), 6:00 p.m.
UCF at Boise State (FS1), 6:00 p.m.
Nicholls at TCU (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 7:00 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Arizona State (FS1), 9:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, TBD

Saturday, September 16
Iowa State at Ohio (ESPN2 or ESPNU), 11:00 a.m.
Kansas State at Missouri (SEC Network), 11:00 a.m.
Long Island at Baylor (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 11:00 a.m.
Oklahoma at Tulsa (ESPN or ESPN2), 2:30 p.m.
Villanova at UCF (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 5:30 p.m.
Miami (OH) at Cincinnati (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m.
South Alabama at Oklahoma State (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m.
Tarleton State at Texas Tech (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh at West Virginia (ABC), 6:30 p.m.
BYU at Arkansas (ESPN2), 6:30 p.m.
TCU at Houston (FOX), 7:00 p.m.
Wyoming at Texas (Longhorn Network), 7:00 p.m.
Kansas at Nevada (CBSSN), 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 23
Sam Houston at Houston (Big 12 Now on ESPN+), 6:00 p.m.

Friday, September 29
Cincinnati at BYU (ESPN), 9:15 p.m.

Friday, October 6
Kansas State at Oklahoma State (ESPN), 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 7
Oklahoma vs. Texas (ABC), TBD

Thursday, October 12
West Virginia at Houston (FS1), 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, November 2
TCU at Texas Tech (FS1), 6:00 p.m.

Friday, November 24
TCU at Oklahoma (FOX), 11:00 a.m.
Texas Tech at Texas (ABC), 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 2
Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship (ABC), 11:00 a.m.