PHOENIX — A new chapter is set to begin this fall for college football in Arizona as the Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State Sun Devils will be moving conferences, heading from the Pac-12 to the Big XII, and on Tuesday their inaugural schedules will be revealed.
The announcement will happen at 9 a.m. Arizona time and while we don't know the dates and times of the games yet, we do know who each team will play next season.
In November, the Big XII Conference announced a new scheduling matrix for the conference, which will be expanding from 12 to 16 teams next season with the addition of Arizona, ASU, Colorado and Utah.
The matrix will allow every team in the conference to play every other team at least once at home and away over a four-year period between 2024-27. It also placed a priority on geography, historic matchups and rivalries.
Teams will play a nine-game conference schedule with three non-conference games.
Here's who each team will be playing.
Arizona Wildcats 2024 opponents
The Wildcats' three non-conference games are already locked in. They will open their season on Aug. 31 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson against the New Mexico Lobos, then will host Northern Arizona on Sept. 7 before their first road game in Manhattan, Kansas, against the Kansas State Wildcats.
Kansas State is a Big XII opponent, but this year's game in Kansas and a game between the schools next year in Tucson will count as a non-conference game, according to Kansas State Athletic Director Gene Taylor. The home-and-home series was announced in 2016, far before Arizona's move to the Big XII.
The Big XII teams who will come to Tucson this fall will be:
- Arizona State
- Colorado
- Texas Tech
- Houston
- West Virginia
The Big XII teams that Arizona will travel to play are:
- BYU
- Utah
- TCU
- UCF
The exact dates and times of the games will be announced Tuesday.
Most of the Wildcats' opponents for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons have already been announced. They still have one non-conference matchup open in both the 2026 and 2027 seasons. Here's who we know they will play.
2025
- Hawaii (at home on Aug. 30)
- Weber State (at home on Sept. 6)
- Kansas State (non-conference game, at home on Sept. 13)
- BYU (at home)
- Baylor (at home)
- Oklahoma State (at home)
- Kansas (at home)
- Arizona State (on the road)
- Colorado (on the road)
- Houston (on the road)
- Iowa State (on the road)
- Cincinnati (on the road)
2026
- Northern Arizona (at home on Sept. 5)
- Northern Illinois (at home on Sept. 19)
- Arizona State (at home)
- Utah (at home)
- TCU (at home)
- Iowa State (at home)
- Cincinnati (at home)
- BYU (on the road)
- Texas Tech (on the road)
- Kansas State (on the road)
- West Virginia (on the road)
2027
- Colorado State (on the road on Sept. 4)
- Northern Arizona (at home on Sept. 18)
- Colorado (at home)
- Houston (at home)
- Kansas State (at home)
- UCF (at home)
- Arizona State (on the road)
- Utah (on the road)
- Baylor (on the road)
- Oklahoma State (on the road)
- Kansas (on the road)
Arizona State Sun Devils 2024 opponents
The Sun Devils also have their three non-conference games for the upcoming season locked in. ASU will open the season at home at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe against the Wyoming Cowboys on Aug. 31, then host the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Sept. 7 and then travel to play the Texas State Bobcats in San Marcos, Texas, on Sept. 14.
Here are the Big XII teams that will come to Tempe this fall:
- BYU
- Utah
- Kansas
- UCF
The Big XII teams ASU will travel to play are:
- Arizona
- Texas Tech
- Oklahoma State
- Kansas State
- Cincinnati
The exact dates and times of the games will be announced Tuesday.
The Sun Devils' opponents for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons have already been announced. Here's who we know they will play.
2025
- Northern Arizona (at home on Aug. 30)
- Mississippi State (on the road on Sept. 6)
- Texas State (at home on Sept. 13)
- Arizona (at home)
- Texas Tech (at home)
- TCU (at home)
- Houston (at home)
- West Virginia (at home)
- Utah (on the road)
- Colorado (on the road)
- Baylor (on the road)
- Iowa State (on the road)
2026
- Bowling Green (at home on Sept. 5)
- Texas A&M (on the road on Sept. 12)
- Hawaii (at home on Sept. 19)
- Colorado (at home)
- Baylor (at home)
- Oklahoma State (at home)
- Kansas State (at home)
- Arizona (on the road)
- BYU (on the road)
- Texas Tech (on the road)
- Kansas (on the road)
- UCF (on the road)
2027
- Cal Poly (at home on Sept. 4)
- Texas A&M (at home on Sept. 11)
- UNLV (on the road on Sept. 18)
- Arizona (at home)
- BYU (at home)
- Utah (at home)
- Iowa State (at home)
- Cincinnati (at home)
- Colorado (on the road)
- TCU (on the road)
- Houston (on the road)
- West Virginia (on the road)
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s 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 League’s 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 Tour’s 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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