BYU COUGARS
Big 12 Reportedly Has Plans In Place For Basketball Schedule When BYU Joins
SALT LAKE CITY – The Big 12 Conference has established itself atop the men’s college basketball world. Over the past two seasons, the Big 12 has produced two different National Champion winners.
The league doesn’t appear to be taking a step back despite losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC after the 2024-25 seasons.
Bring it home!
The @Big12Conference has had their fingerprints all over the National Championship trophy the past 2 seasons 🏆 pic.twitter.com/x9QQyKMTON
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) June 4, 2022
Last season, the new Big 12 teams (eight carryovers plus four additions) had an average KenPom rating of 42.4. That includes newcomer Houston who finished No. 2 in KenPom’s metrics and advanced to the Elite Eight.
But for two seasons, the league will be a powerhouse of 14 teams, including the Longhorns and Sooners.
Report: 14 teams, 18 league games
Going from 10 teams to 14 is a drastic change. So how the schedule works is a hot topic among the hoops programs in the league.
NEWS: The Big 12 is planning to stay at 18 league games when the league has 14 teams in 23-24 & 24-25, according to a source.
Each Big 12 team will likely play eight teams once & five teams twice, as the league looks to maintain its natural rivalries.https://t.co/ndxJQrwIub
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 7, 2022
FanDuel’s College Basketball insider Jon Rothstein reports that the Big 12 plans to continue with an 18-game conference schedule in a 14-team league with Texas and Oklahoma for two years.
With its current 10 members, the Big 12 plays a round-robin 18-game schedule. So there would be no change to the number of games played when the new members joined, per Rothstein’s report.
The three AAC schools (UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston) still need to complete an early buy-out from the AAC to join the Big 12 on July 1, 2023.
West Virginia AD Shane Lyons told reporters at last week’s Big 12 spring meetings that the three schools were “close to the finish line” and are “pretty confident” they will join with BYU for the 2023-24 academic year.
Rothstein states the 14 Big 12 teams would play eight of the schools once and another five programs twice during the league slate. That would allow for rivalries such as Kansas-Kansas State and Oklahoma-Oklahoma State to be protected.
Future of Big 12 Basketball
In May, Kansas head coach Bill Self said at the Fiesta Frolic in Scottsdale that he hoped the league schedule would stay at 18 games.
An 18-game league schedule would leave 11 to 12 games for a non-conference schedule.
The Big 12 has a conference challenge with the SEC, which will occupy one of the non-conference dates. That league challenge with the SEC runs through the 2024-25 season.
Last week, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told KSL Sports that the league athletic directors would meet this August in New Orleans. Scheduling in all Big 12 sports could be a big topic in the meetings.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
