Arizona's first four years of Big 12 football opponents announced

Arizona’s upcoming Big 12 football opponents for the next four year were unveiled on Wednesday — and yes, the Territorial Cup game will remain an annual tradition.

When the Wildcats play in their new 16-team conference beginning in Fall 2024 — the first time Arizona will be in a new league since 1978 — they’ll have home games against fellow Pac-12 departures Arizona State and Colorado, along with West Virginia, Houston and Texas Tech in 2024.

Arizona’s road matchups will be against BYU, Utah, TCU and UCF in Orlando next season.

For these first four years, the Wildcats will have at least one conference game, and as many as three, in the Central time zone; for the first three they’ll play one conference game each year in the Eastern time zone.

Arizona’s second season in the Big 12 in 2025 will have home games against BYU, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and road games at ASU, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State and Cincinnati. The Wildcats have one game in Texas every season, a state that is a recruiting hotbed.

The Big 12 championship game is played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Arizona has faced every team in their upcoming conference except for West Virginia and UCF. The UA most recently played Texas Tech in 2019, beating the Red Raiders 28-14, in the first — and only — game of a home-and-home series; the game in 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic. Texas Tech and Arizona were formerly Border Conference rivals. Arizona is 5-26-2 all-time against TTU.

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Arizona and BYU have played each other six times since 2006, including Jedd Fisch’s opening game as head coach of the UA in 2021.

Before Arizona became a Big 12 member, the Wildcats scheduled Kansas State for a home-and-home series as a nonconference opponent in 2026 and ‘27, which will now count towards the conference schedule.

In the four-year Big 12 schedule, each of the 16 teams will play one another at least once home and away. The Big 12 won’t have a pod or division system “and that will allow teams to cycle through all opponents as quickly and equitably as possible as well as provide a path for the conference championship game participants that is a true reflection of the quality of the teams on each schedule and overall strength of the league, rather than pitting divisional champions against one another where a large portion of each teams’ schedule is dedicated to divisional/protected games,” it said in the conference news release.

“As we look towards the future of this conference, we are thrilled to introduce the first football scheduling matrix for the new-look Big 12,” said Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark in a released statement. “I’m grateful to our membership for their support throughout the scheduling process.

“In this model, competitive balance and student-athlete wellness was prioritized. Rivalries will be protected, and new matchups will be introduced. The excitement and parity this conference is known for will continue for years to come.”