Ranking Big 12 football nonconference schedules

Mountaineers just like to play teams residing in Pittsburgh.

2. Texas – Rice, @ Alabama, Wyoming mond disagreed with the board’s decision in an official press release.

“The approval of any publicly funded religious school is contrary to Oklahoma law and not in the best interest of taxpayers,” Drummond said. “It’s extremely disappointing that board members violated their oath in order to fund religious schools with our tax dollars. In doing so, these members have exposed themselves and the State to potential legal action that could be costly.”

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It’s never too early to look ahead to college football, and breaking down nonconference schedules is a good place to start.

Here’s a ranking and breakdown of nonconference slates in the Big 12 –but first, let’s look at a few interesting notes.

• Only West Virginia scheduled more than one Power Five school.

• Houston, OU and UCF play no Power Five programs.

• Texas Tech and West Virginia are the only schools to open the year on the road.

• Wyoming plays more Big 12 Texas schools than OSU.

• UCF has the longest nonconference road trip – a 37-hour drive.

Now, time for the rankings.

1. West Virginia - @ Penn State, Duquesne, Pittsburgh

The Mountaineers have to be at the top simply because they were the only Big 12 team to schedule two Power Five schools. Not to mention they’re two good Power Five teams. Opening the season at Penn State in one of the nation’s best environments is no joke. A rivalry game against Pittsburgh is another quality matchup, even if Pitt may not be a nine-win or 11-win team like the past two seasons. Duquesne, well… it’s forgivable with the rest of the nonconference slate. Maybe the

Forget everything else. If you walk into Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa for a football game, your nonconference schedule gets a gold star. The Longhorns nearly upset the Crimson Tide in a 20-19 loss in Austin last season. Could UT keep it close again? This is the 97th meeting between the Longhorns and Owls – with Rice’s last two wins coming in 1994 and 1965. Wyoming is a nice opponent to round things out.

3. Texas Tech – @ Wyoming, Oregon, Tarleton State Wyoming plays more games against Big 12 Texas schools (two) than OSU (one). Weird. Oregon is a great test for the Red Raiders. Tech took a jump in Year 1 under coach Joey McGuire, and many are high on them in 2023. Playing the Ducks in Lubbock will be a good gauge to see where TTU stands. Everyone is entitled to a gimme. Tech is keeping theirs in West Texas with Tarleton State.

4. Iowa State – Northern Iowa, Iowa, @ Ohio

The Cyclones like to keep it in state, but neither the Hawkeyes nor Panthers are slouches. Iowa has controlled the Cy-Hawk trophy, winning seven of the past nine, though ISU squeaked out a 10-7 win last year. UNI has played in Ames twice in the last four years – both tight games. The Cyclones survived a 16-10 slugfest in 2021 and a 29-23 triple overtime thriller in 2019. Also, Ohio quietly had a 10-4 season a year ago. A sneaky good, Midwest schedule for ISU.

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