Big 12 championship game moving to Friday night in 2026

The Big 12 title game is moving to Friday night.

The conference announced Wednesday that it would play its league title game on Friday, Dec. 4. The Big 12 championship game has been played at noon ET Saturday in recent years. It will continue to be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

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The shift to Friday fills a power conference void on Friday nights. The Pac-12 had been playing its title game on the Friday night of conference championship weekend before everyone outside of Oregon State and Washington State left for other conferences. And it could potentially result in a viewership boost. Just under 9 million people watched Texas Tech’s win over BYU in December and the conference said it was launching a “new Friday-Saturday rotation that enhances national exposure.”

In addition to announcing the conference title game was moving up a day, the Big 12 also released its 2026 schedule. Thanks to the schedule rotations in the conference, Texas Tech does not play either BYU or Utah in 2026. The Red Raiders will host Arizona State on Oct. 17. ASU was the only team to beat Texas Tech before the Red Raiders lost to Oregon in the Orange Bowl.

That same day, BYU will host Notre Dame. Week 7 is already turning into a marquee weekend for college football next season. Alabama plays Tennessee that day and defending national champion Indiana hosts Ohio State in a rematch of the Big 12 title game.

The full schedule is below. The conference plays two games in Europe in 2026 as North Carolina plays TCU in Dublin and Arizona State plays Kansas in London.

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Week 0

• TCU vs. North Carolina (Dublin)

Week 1

• Northern Arizona at Arizona

• Morgan State at Arizona State

• Baylor vs. Auburn (Atlanta)

• Boston College at Cincinnati

• Southeast Missouri State at Iowa State

• Nicholls State at Kansas State

• Abilene Christian at Texas Tech

• Coastal Carolina at West Virginia

Week 2

• Arizona State at Texas A&M

• Prairie View A&M at Baylor

• Western Carolina at Cincinnati

• Washington State at Kansas State

• Texas Tech at Oregon State

• Tennessee-Martin at West Virginia

Week 3

• Northern Illinois at Arizona

• Kansas vs. Arizona State (London)

• Miami (Ohio) at Cincinnati

• Bowling Green at Iowa State

• Murray State at Oklahoma State

• Virginia vs. West Virginia (Charlotte)

Week 4

• Arizona at Washington State

• Kansas State at Cincinnati

• Houston at Georgia Southern

• Oklahoma State at West Virginia

• Sam Houston State at Texas Tech

Week 5

• West Virginia at Iowa State

• Middle Tennessee State at Kansas

Week 6

Week 7

• Arizona State at Texas Tech

• Cincinnati at West Virginia

• Oklahoma State at Houston

Week 8

• Kansas State at Arizona State

• Colorado at Oklahoma State

Week 9

• Oklahoma State at Iowa State

Week 10

• Colorado at Arizona State

• Oklahoma State at Kansas State

• West Virginia at Texas Tech

Week 11

• Texas Tech at Oklahoma State

Week 12

• Oklahoma State at Arizona State

Week 13

• Kansas State at Iowa State