Big 12 championship game moving to Friday night in 2026
- - Big 12 championship game moving to Friday night in 2026
Nick Bromberg January 22, 2026 at 3:32 AM
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The Big 12 title game is moving to Friday night.
The conference announced Wednesday that it would play its league title game on Friday, Dec. 4. The Big 12 championship game has been played at noon ET Saturday in recent years. It will continue to be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The shift to Friday fills a power conference void on Friday nights. The Pac-12 had been playing its title game on the Friday night of conference championship weekend before everyone outside of Oregon State and Washington State left for other conferences. And it could potentially result in a viewership boost. Just under 9 million people watched Texas Tech’s win over BYU in December and the conference said it was launching a "new Friday-Saturday rotation that enhances national exposure."
In addition to announcing the conference title game was moving up a day, the Big 12 also released its 2026 schedule. Thanks to the schedule rotations in the conference, Texas Tech does not play either BYU or Utah in 2026. The Red Raiders will host Arizona State on Oct. 17. ASU was the only team to beat Texas Tech before the Red Raiders lost to Oregon in the Orange Bowl.
That same day, BYU will host Notre Dame. Week 7 is already turning into a marquee weekend for college football next season. Alabama plays Tennessee that day and defending national champion Indiana hosts Ohio State in a rematch of the Big 12 title game.
The full schedule is below. The conference plays two games in Europe in 2026 as North Carolina plays TCU in Dublin and Arizona State plays Kansas in London.
Week 0
TCU vs. North Carolina (Dublin)
Week 1
Northern Arizona at Arizona
Morgan State at Arizona State
Baylor vs. Auburn (Atlanta)
Utah Tech at BYU
Bethune-Cookman at UCF
Boston College at Cincinnati
Colorado at Georgia Tech
Oregon State at Houston
Southeast Missouri State at Iowa State
Long Island at Kansas
Nicholls State at Kansas State
Oklahoma State at Tulsa
Abilene Christian at Texas Tech
Idaho at Utah
Coastal Carolina at West Virginia
Week 2
Arizona at BYU
Arizona State at Texas A&M
Prairie View A&M at Baylor
UCF at Pitt
Western Carolina at Cincinnati
Weber State at Colorado
Southern at Houston
Iowa State at Iowa State
Missouri at Kansas
Washington State at Kansas State
Oregon at Oklahoma State
Grambling State at CU
Texas Tech at Oregon State
Arkansas at Utah
Tennessee-Martin at West Virginia
Week 3
Northern Illinois at Arizona
Kansas vs. Arizona State (London)
Louisiana Tech at Baylor
BYU at Colorado State
Georgia State at UCF
Miami (Ohio) at Cincinnati
Colorado at Northwestern
Houston at Texas Tech
Bowling Green at Iowa State
Tulane at Kansas State
Murray State at Oklahoma State
Arkansas State at TCU
Utah State at Utah
Virginia vs. West Virginia (Charlotte)
Week 4
Arizona at Washington State
Colorado at Baylor
TCU at UCF
Kansas State at Cincinnati
Houston at Georgia Southern
Utah at Iowa State
Oklahoma State at West Virginia
Sam Houston State at Texas Tech
Week 5
Cincinnati at Arizona
Baylor at Arizona State
BYU at TCU
UCF at Houston
Texas Tech at Colorado
West Virginia at Iowa State
Middle Tennessee State at Kansas
Week 6
Arizona at West Virginia
Hawaii at Arizona State
Iowa State at BYU
UCF at Oklahoma State
Houston at Kansas State
Kansas at Utah
Oklahoma State at UCF
Week 7
Arizona State at Texas Tech
TCU at Baylor
Notre Dame at BYU
Cincinnati at West Virginia
Utah at Colorado
Oklahoma State at Houston
Kansas at Kansas State
Week 8
Iowa State at Arizona
Kansas State at Arizona State
Baylor at Kansas
BYU at UCF
Texas Tech at Cincinnati
Colorado at Oklahoma State
Houston at Utah
West Virginia at TCU
Week 9
Arizona at Texas Tech
Arizona State at BYU
Baylor at UCF
Utah at Cincinnati
Kansas State at Colorado
Oklahoma State at Iowa State
Kansas at TCU
Week 10
TCU at Arizona
Colorado at Arizona State
Iowa State at Baylor
BYU at Utah
UCF at Kansas
Cincinnati at Houston
Oklahoma State at Kansas State
West Virginia at Texas Tech
Week 11
Utah at Arizona
Arizona State at UCF
Baylor at BYU
Cincinnati at Iowa State
Houston at Colorado
Kansas at West Virginia
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State
TCU at Kansas State
Week 12
Arizona at Kansas State
Oklahoma State at Arizona State
Texas Tech at Baylor
BYU at Kansas
Iowa State at UCF
Colorado at Cincinnati
Houston at West Virginia
Utah at TCU
Week 13
Arizona State at Arizona
Baylor at Houston
Cincinnati at BYU
UCF at Colorado
Kansas State at Iowa State
Kansas at Oklahoma State
Texas Tech at TCU
West Virginia at Utah
Source: “AOL Sports”
