The Big 12 Conference, in preparation for expanding to 16 schools next summer, has announced a football scheduling matrix for the 2024-2027 seasons. The 14-school Big 12 Conference will move to a league covering the deserts of Arizona, to the mountains of the American West, to the prairies of the Midwest, and the heat of the state of Florida in 2024.
Texas and Oklahoma will be leaving the Big 12, a significant blow in prestige to the league. In response, the Big 12 raided the collapsing Pac-12 Conference, adding the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of Utah, and the University of Colorado.
Starting in 2024, Big 12 schools will play nine games against conference opponents, with at least one home-and-home series over the 15 possible opponents over a four-year period.
Rivalries will be prioritized, with the “Holy War” matchup of Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah), and the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah) set for protected rivalry status, meaning the contest will be played every year, with the 2024 game in Salt Lake City. Other series receiving that status are Kansas vs. Kansas State, Baylor vs. Texas Christian University (TCU), and Arizona vs. Arizona State in the “Territorial Cup” series between the Wildcats and Sun Devils.
Colorado’s Big 12 home games in 2024 will see Utah, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Cincinnati at Folsom Field in Boulder. Arizona’s opponents coming to Arizona Stadium in Tucson are Arizona State, Colorado, Houston, Texas Tech, and West Virginia. Arizona State will welcome BYU, Utah, Kansas, and UCF to Tempe, with Utah hosting Arizona, TCU, Iowa State, and BYU at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is moving to a 17-team league with the addition of Southern Methodist University (Dallas, Texas), the University of California (Berkeley), and Stanford University (Palo Alto, California) in 2024.
The ACC will have eight conference games, with all 17 schools playing each other at least twice over the next seven seasons. The 14 schools that make up the ACC this year will play a total of three times each in California through 2030, none in back-to-back seasons.
From the previous divisional format, 11 of the 16 “protected” games will stay with that status, including Miami vs. Virginia Tech and North Carolina State vs. Wake Forest. The three newcomers in Cal, Stanford, and SMU will also year one another on a yearly basis.
Other matchups to be played yearly are Boston College vs. Syracuse, Boston College vs. Pitt, Syracuse vs. Pitt, North Carolina vs. Virginia, North Carolina vs. Duke, North Carolina vs. North Carolina State, North Carolina State vs. Duke, Virginia Tech vs. Virginia, Florida State vs. Clemson, Miami vs. Florida State, Stanford vs. California, Stanford vs. SMU, and California vs. SMU. In an interesting twist, Georgia Tech and Louisville agreed to not have a protected rival, giving the league more flexibility in a challenging scheduling matrix.
Traveling to Berkeley to play the Cal Golden Bears in 2024 will be Miami, North Carolina State, and Syracuse, with Louisville, SMU, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest head to play at Stanford.
