IRVING, Texas — The Big 12 released its 2024 Football Media Preseason Poll on Tuesday, ranking BYU at No. 13 in the newly expanded 16-team conference.
With former Pac-12 schools Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah officially becoming members on Monday, coinciding with the departures of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, the Big 12 enters its first season as a 16-team league in 2024.
The league media voting in the poll gave first-place votes to five different teams with Utah (906 points/20 first-place votes) edging out Kansas State (889/19) followed by Oklahoma State (829/14), who played in the 2023 Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship, Kansas (772/5) and Arizona (762/3) in the top five. Iowa State (661), West Virginia (581), UCF (551), Texas Tech (532) and TCU (436) round out the top 10, followed by Colorado (400), Baylor (268), BYU (215), Cincinnati (196), Houston (157) and Arizona State (141).
BYU joins newcomers Arizona State and Colorado as the schools scheduled to play the most highly rated conference teams in 2024 according to the preseason media poll. The Cougars, Sun Devils and Buffaloes are the only programs to face each of the top-five rated teams in the preseason poll.
Boasting a strong home schedule in 2024, BYU will welcome four of the preseason top-five rated teams to Provo this season. The Cougars open Big 12 play hosting Kansas State (Sept. 21) followed by home dates with Arizona (Oct. 12), Oklahoma State (Oct. 18) and Kansas (Nov. 16) before the regular-season finale in LaVell Edwards Stadium against Houston (Nov. 30).
Including road games, BYU begins Big 12 play facing six of the top eight teams over its first seven league games. After opening with No. 2 Kansas State, the Cougars play at 12th-rated Baylor (Sept. 28) before a bye and back-to-back home games with No. 5 Arizona and No. 3 Oklahoma State, then return to the road for consecutive matchups against eighth-rated UCF (Oct. 26) and top-rated Utah (Nov. 9). BYU finishes that seven-game stretch hosting No. 4 Kansas before finishing the year at 16th-rated Arizona State (Nov. 23) and home with No. 15 Houston.
Head coaches and players from each of the 16 teams will be in Las Vegas next week for 2024 Big 12 Football Media Days presented by Totino’s. Representing BYU at the event along with head coach Kalani Sitake will be defensive end Tyler Batty, cornerback Jakob Robinson, center Connor Pay and receivers Darius Lassiter and Chase Roberts.
The two-day event will be held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Tuesday, July 9 and Wednesday, July 10. Coverage from both days will be provided on ESPNU and Big 12 Now on ESPN+. BYUtv will also broadcast its daily show BYU Sports Nation live from Las Vegas during the event.
Arizona State, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and Utah will meet with the media on July 9 while BYU and Arizona, Baylor, UCF, Colorado, Houston, Kansas and West Virginia will take the stage July 10.
BYU is celebrating its 100th football season in 2024. Leading up to and throughout this year’s milestone season, BYU Athletics will be providing fans with a variety of opportunities to celebrate and reminisce over the rich history and tradition of Cougar football while cheering on the 2024 team in its second season as a member of the Big 12 Conference.