Top 10 Big 12 Football Nonconference Games of 2024

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We have less than three months left until the 2024 college football season kicks off, and the race to crown a new champion is underway. On July 1, the Big 12 will enter a brand-new phase of its life as a conference, welcoming Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah as its four newest members.

The league will also wave goodbye to Oklahoma and Texas—two of its original founding members who were around when the conference was born in 1994.

2024 appears to provide the most wide-open race the league has ever seen, with eight teams having +1200 odds or better to take home the crown. The co-favorites—Kansas State and Utah—are deadlocked at +350 odds to win the league. But before we get to the conference portion of the schedule, though, we have an excellent nonconference slate to complete.

 

With plenty of top matchups to choose from, we picked the top 10 nonconference games in the Big 12 this upcoming season. Take a look.

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10. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT OKLAHOMA STATE

SAT, AUG. 31 | TBA | ESPN+ | STILLWATER, OK

This one might catch some of you off guard, but there’s a very good chance that Mike Gundy’s group finds themselves in quite a battle to open the season against the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State. By no means is that a knock on the Cowboys, In fact, I expect them to be among the best teams in the Big 12. It’s a testament to the fact that SDSU has won back-to-back national championships at the FCS level and last lost a game on September 3, 2022—a 7-3 defeat at the hands of Iowa.

9. HOUSTON AT OKLAHOMA

SAT, SEP. 7 | 6:45 P.M. CT | SEC NETWORK | NORMAN, OK

Despite sharing the Big 12 for the 2023 season, UH and OU didn’t meet on the football field. However, they will do just that in Week 2 of 2024. The Sooners’ who will be playing in their second game as members of the SEC, will play host to Willie Fritz and the Cougars in Norman. Just a few seasons ago, Fritz took Tulane into Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and nearly upset Lincoln Riley’s Sooners. Can he do it again with the Coogs?

8. BYU AT SMU

FRI, SEP 6 | 6:00 P.M. CT | ESPN2 | DALLAS, TX

If you’d have said this was a Big 12 vs. ACC battle three years ago, most folks would’ve either called you crazy or just flat ignored you. However, that’s exactly what it will be when the Cougars and Mustangs meet in Dallas in Week 2. These two programs have met four times and as recently as 2022, with BYU winning all four meetings. The 2022 matchup was as close as it gets, with Kalani Sitake’s group inching past Rhett Lashlee’s Mustangs in a 24-23 victory in the New Mexico Bowl.

 

7. ARKANSAS AT OKLAHOMA STATE

SAT, SEP. 7 | 11:00 A.M. CT | ABC | STILLWATER, OK

While less than 190 miles of high separate Stillwater (OK) and Fayetteville (AR), the Cowboys and Razorbacks haven’t met in nearly half a century. A lot has changed for both of these programs since they last met back in 1980, and Arkansas carries a five-game winning streak into this year’s tilt. However, they’ll likely be somewhere around a touchdown dog on the road, and Mike Gundy will have all the reason in the world to lean heavily on Ollie Gordon.

6. WEST VIRGINIA AT PITT

SAT, SEP. 14 | 2:30 P.M. CT | TBA | PITTSBURGH, PA

The Backyard Brawl is always must-see TV, and even though it’s not the top nonconference game the WVU will be playing this year, the Mountaineers trip to Pittsburgh is going to be something you’ll want to tune in for. In 2022, Pat Narduzzi’s squad used a late pick-six to take down WVU, 38-31, but last season it was Neal Brown’s group that won a defensive battle, 17-6.

5. IOWA STATE AT IOWA

SAT, SEP. 7 | TBD | CBS | IOWA CITY, IA

The CyHawk rivalry is one of the most underrated games of the year, and each of the last two matchups have lived up to the billing. In 2022, Matt Campbell and the ‘Clones got their first win—a low-scoring 10-7 affair—over the Hawkeyes since 2014. Last year, in Ames, Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes got revenge with a 20-13 win. The road team has won each of the last three games in this rivalry, which bodes well for Rocco Becht and Co.

 

4. PENN STATE AT WEST VIRGINIA

SAT, AUG. 31 | TBD | FOX | MORGANTOWN, WV

One of the most lopsided rivalries in all of college football has not been kind to the Mountaineers, as Penn State leads their all-time series, 49-9-2. Last season, the Nittany Lions extended their active win streak over WVU to five games with a 38-15 win in Happy Valley. However, coming to Morgantown on the heels of a 9-4 season, and in the season opener no less, is going to be a much bigger challenge for James Franklin’s squad. You’ll want to tune in for this one, as it could be one of those early outcomes that flips college football on its head.

3. COLORADO AT NEBRASKA

SAT, SEP. 7 | 6:30 P.M. CT | NBC | LINCOLN, NE

One of the most underrated rivalries of all-time was dormant for a while after Colorado and Nebraska went to different conferences in the realignment wave of 2011. However, the Buffs and Huskers picked things back up last year with Colorado winning at home, 36-14. Now, Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes must go to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska, where they’ve won just one time in the last 20 years. The good news is Colorado carries a three-game winning streak into this game and has two of the best athletes in the country on their side of the field.

2. UCF AT FLORIDA

SAT, OCT. 5 | TBA | 6:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. | GAINESVILLE, FL

UCF vs. Florida was very nearly the No. 1 nonconference game on this list, and I wouldn’t argue if someone swapped it out for that position. The Knights and Gators will have plenty to play for in this game, and the timing has a ton to do with it. With this nonconference game stretching into Week 6, both UCF and Florida will have two games of conference play behind them. This in-state matchup will provide one team with some momentum to build on and the other a devastating loss that will serve as ammo in the ever-evolving recruiting battle. UCF and Florida have met three times total, with UCF’s only win coming in their most recent matchup—a 29-17 win in the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl.

1. ARIZONA AT KANSAS STATE

FRI, SEP. 13 | 7:00 P.M. CT | FOX | MANHATTAN, KS

So, I’ll start by saying it almost feels like cheating to pick this as a “nonconference game,” but by technicality, that’s exactly what it is. Despite the Wildcats (x2) sharing the Big 12 in 2024, this game is serving as an out-of-conference matchup due to it being scheduled before Arizona made its move to the Big 12. This game has the makings of an absolutely gargantuan matchup with two of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the game—Avery Johnson and Noah Fifita—facing off against one another in a Friday night game in Manhattan, Kansas. I expect Bill Snyder Family Stadium to be rocking, and with all kinds of offensive weapons and opportunistic defenses, this should be a back-and-forth classic that could end up having postseason implications despite not counting toward either team’s Big 12 record.

Just missed: Mississippi state @ Arizona state, kansas @ Illinois, pitt @ Cincinnati, texas tech @ Washington state, rice @ Houston