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SALT LAKE CITY — A new era of college football is upon Utah as it says goodbye to the Pac-12 at the end of the year and embraces its new home in the soon-to-be 16-member Big 12 Conference.
With the moves comes a new set of conference opponents and travel destinations. On Wednesday, the Big 12 released the conference pairings for the next four seasons for football, giving Utah a look at its future.
"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," Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said in a 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."
Most pressing was a previously scheduled matchup against Baylor and BYU as a nonconference game for the 2024 season before Utah joined the Big 12. The BYU game, which will be a protected rivalry game, will count as a conference game, while the Baylor game will remains as a nonconference game, or a de facto 10th Big 12 game.
For the 2024 season, Utah will host Arizona, BYU, TCU and Iowa State at Rice-Eccles Stadium, while going on the road to face Arizona State, Colorado, Houston, Oklahoma State and UCF.
In total, Utah will play all teams in the conference at least once at home and once on the road over the four-year schedule, with an alternating four conference games at home and five on the road one season with five game at home and four on the road the next season.
As Utah enters the Big 12, it holds winning records against six of the 15 teams — Baylor (1-0), BYU (62-35-4), TCU (5-3), West Virginia (2-0), Arizona (26-19-2) and Colorado (34-32-3) — and has never played four teams in program history.
The future is set.
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) November 1, 2023
Our 2024-2027 schedule matrix is here ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/lXFEvAsVUh
2024 season
Home opponent
- Arizona
- BYU
- TCU
- Iowa State
Road opponent
- Arizona State
- Colorado
- Houston
- Oklahoma State
- UCF
2025 season
Home opponent
- Arizona State
- Colorado
- Texas Tech
- Kansas State
- Cincinnati
Road opponent
- BYU
- Baylor
- Kansas
- West Virginia
2026 season
Home opponent
- BYU
- Houston
- Kansas
- West Virginia
Road opponent
- Arizona
- Colorado
- TCU
- Iowa State
- Cincinnati
2027 season
Home opponent
- Arizona
- Baylor
- TCU
- Oklahoma State
- UCF
Road opponent
- Arizona State
- BYU
- Texas Tech
- Kansas State
