The Big 12 Conference unveiled the men’s basketball schedule pairings for the 2024-25 season on Thursday, marking the first season with 16 teams. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah are newcomers to the Big 12 and are set to compete alongside Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, UCF, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, and West Virginia for the upcoming basketball season. Although the specific game dates and times will be announced later, here are five reflections on the released matchups.
THE FORMAT
As projected, the 20-game schedule format has been confirmed. Under this format, each team will compete in 20 games, facing five opponents both at home and away, five opponents only at home, and five opponents only on the road.
This upcoming season marks the first time the league will be adopting a 20-game conference schedule. Previously, with 14 teams last year and for the last ten years with 10 teams, the league played 18 games. With the departure of the Big 12-SEC Challenge, the league requires an additional league game or two to strengthen its NCAA NET rating.
Gone are the days of the double round-robin format.
GEOGRAPHY MATTERS (KIND OF)
he Big 12 considered geographical factors in certain aspects, particularly in relation to home-and-away matchups.
For example, Arizona State is set to have home-and-away games with three teams located in the Mountain time zone — Arizona, BYU, and Colorado.
Kansas will have home-and-away games with Iowa State and Kansas State, in addition to reviving its rivalry with Colorado.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech will have home-and-away matchups with Arizona, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Houston, and TCU.
However, in some other respects, geographical proximity was not as influential. For instance, BYU will face both Cincinnati and West Virginia in home-and-away games. This makes the Cougars the only Mountain time zone team with home-and-away matchups against two Eastern time zone teams.
FUN HOME-ONLY MATCHUPS
Arizona will have a home game against Houston, which promises to be an exciting matchup between two teams possibly in the preseason Top 10. Baylor will play Kansas only once, and the game will take place in Waco. Cincinnati has secured an advantageous home-only schedule, hosting both Arizona schools as well as Kansas.
Among the other teams, Houston’s most promising home-only game is against Iowa State, while Iowa State’s top home-only game is expected to be against Baylor. TCU is expected to experience increased attendance for home games in Fort Worth, as they play against both Kansas and Kansas State. Finally, West Virginia has secured home games against both Arizona schools for Darian DeVries’ inaugural season.
FUN ROAD-ONLY MATCHUPS
In its debut season, Arizona is scheduled to play games at both Kansas and Kansas State, potentially as part of the Big Monday or Super Tuesday lineup. First-year BYU coach Kevin Young will lead the Cougars into Houston for what promises to be an exciting matchup. Similarly, Cincinnati also has a road-only matchup with Houston.
Additionally, Houston is slated to visit Kansas State, which could shape up to be an intriguing game considering the Wildcats’ activity in the transfer portal. TCU will face the challenge of traveling to Houston, while Utah has drawn a challenging road-only schedule, featuring games against Arizona, Houston, and Iowa State.
THE PERFECT WEEKEND
If we consider these matchups and aim to assemble an ideal weekend of Big 12 basketball, here are eight games that would captivate viewers throughout the day:
Houston visits Arizona Kansas State plays at Kansas Baylor faces off against Iowa State Arizona State takes on Texas Tech TCU competes against Baylor Cincinnati matches up with BYU UCF plays against Colorado Oklahoma State goes up against West Virginia
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