Big 12 Schedule Released and Oklahoma State Faces Rugged Trio to Start

STILLWATER – The Big 12 Conference actually delivered above and beyond what was originally expected as the league office released the full football schedule for the upcoming season. Prior to Tuesday morning (Jan. 30) we knew all of the opponents for each Big 12 school including Oklahoma State. We did not know the dates on the conference games which includes Arizona State, Texas Tech, Utah, and West Virginia at home and Baylor, BYU, Colorado. Kansas State, and TCU on the road. Now the blanks have been filled in with the exception of game times which will come later courtesy of the television partners in the Big 12, ESPN and FOX Sports. 

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Utah will be the conference opener in Boone Pickens Stadium.

The first thing that stands out with the schedule is the tough stretch to start league play hosting Utah on Sept. 21, then traveling to Kansas State the next week, before finishing with West Virginia at home and then taking a breath with the first bye. If the Cowboys can navigate those first six games and be 6-0 then you can plan on some big things. 

You do have two opponents that have byes before playing you which makes for tough set ups. The first is West Virginia that is off the Saturday before coming to Stillwater to play the Pokes. Utah is a perennial power, Kansas State is the same and with young, athletic quarterback Avery Johnson will be explosive. Neal Brown’s West Virginia team was much better than the last place finish that was predicted last season.

BYU Athletics

LaVell Edwards Stadium at BYU.

After the bye week, the Cowboys go on the road back-to-back weeks with the first ever trip to Provo, Utah to play BYU. They were tough last season in the double overtime game in Stillwater. It is a picturesque place to play. Oklahoma State is 3-0 all-time vs. these Cougars. That game is also listed as a Friday or Saturday possibility.

You finish that middle run with TCU on the road and that has never been an easy place to play. 

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Texas Tech, the new OSU rival?

After the bye week Oklahoma State will host Texas Tech and both teams will be coming off a bye. The Red Raiders and their fans seem to have a thing about Oklahoma State probably because the Cowboys have won 12-of-the-last-14 with Tech.

The last game is a Friday game on Thanksgiving weekend at Colorado. It is Deion Sanders and the circus that surrounds the Buffaloes. One outlet projected a night game in the Rockies, but no game times have been attached. The hope is that will be a mid-afternoon kick. It will likely be cold and could be snow. It could also be unseasonably 50s and sunshine.