TUCSON, Ariz. β The Arizona Wildcats' first season in the Big 12 Conference and under head coach Brent Brennan is set after the conference released Arizona's schedule on Tuesday morning.
The Wildcats' first three non-conference games were already locked in before the conference schedule was released.
Arizona will open its season on Aug. 31 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson by taking on the New Mexico Lobos from the Mountain West Conference.
The next week, on Sept. 7, the Wildcats will host Northern Arizona, in their lone game against a team from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2024.
Arizona's first road trip and final non-conference game will come the next week and adds a bit of a quirk to their schedule.
The Wildcats' final non-conference game actually comes against one of their new conference foes, as Arizona will take on the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas. As the game was announced in 2016 long before the latest round of conference realignment, this matchup and one in Tucson in 2025 will still count as non-conference games.
The exact date of the 2024 matchup between Arizona and Kansas State has yet to be announced, but will be on either Sept. 13 or 14.
Arizona's first bye week of the season will follow that game.
Arizona will start their nine-game conference schedule on Sept. 28 with a road trip to Salt Lake City, to take on the Utah Utes.
The Wildcats will return home to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Oct. 5 and then go back to Utah to play the BYU Cougars in Provo on Oct. 12.
Arizona will then play back-to-back home games against the Colorado Buffaloes (Oct. 19) and West Virginia Mountaineers (Oct. 26).
Arizona will then take a cross-country trip to Orlando to play the UCF Knights on Nov. 2. That will be followed by the Wildcats' second bye week of the season and then a home game against the Houston Cougars. The date of the game against Houston will be announced at a later date, but will be on Nov. 14, 15 or 16.
The Wildcats' final road trip of 2024 will come on Nov. 23 when they go to Fort Worth, Texas, to play the TCU Horned Frogs.
Arizona will wrap up the regular season with the Territorial Cup against Arizona State on Nov. 30.
Here's a look at the full schedule:
- Aug. 31: vs. New Mexico
- Sept. 7: vs. Northern Arizona
- Sept. 13 or 14: at Kansas State (non-conference game)
- Sept. 21: BYE
- Sept. 28: at Utah
- Oct. 5: vs. Texas Tech
- Oct. 12: at BYU
- Oct. 19: vs. Colorado
- Oct. 26: vs. West Virginia
- Nov. 2: at UCF
- Nov. 9: BYE
- Nov. 14, 15 or 16: vs. Houston
- Nov. 23: at TCU
- Nov. 30: vs. Arizona State
Kickoff times and TV channels will be announced at a later date.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBAβs Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football Leagueβs Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. The Coyotes play at Mullett Arena on ASU's Tempe campus.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tourβs highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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