BYU, Big 12 announce 2024 football schedule

Games Played: First Meeting

The Southern Illinois Salukis from Carbondale, Illinois, will visit LaVell Edwards Stadium for the first time on Saturday, Aug 31.

The Salukis of the Football Championship Subdivision finished 2023 at 8-5, with a 4-4 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference, and advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs last season. Southern Illinois finished No. 13 in the FCS Coaches Poll last year.

Games Played: 4
Overall Series: 4-0
at BYU: 1-0
at SMU: 1-0
Neutral: 2-0
First game: 1980
Last game: 2022

BYU travels to Dallas to play SMU at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on Sept. 6 in a Friday-night rematch of the 2022 New Mexico Bowl. The Cougars held on for a 24-23 victory over the Mustangs in Albuquerque. 

This will be the fifth meeting of the two schools, including 2022’s bowl game and the famed 1980 Holiday Bowl, remembered as the “Miracle Bowl” by Cougar fans. BYU came back from a 45-25 deficit with just over four minutes remaining to win 46-45 after a Hail Mary touchdown from Jim McMahon to Clay Brown. 

BYU last played at SMU when the Mustangs hosted the Cougars in 1997 as league opponents in the Western Athletic Conference. The game was played at the Cotton Bowl and the two schools went to overtime before BYU won 19-16. 

SMU won the AAC last season with an 11-3 record, defeating Tulane in the championship game before playing in the Fenway Bowl. The Mustangs were ranked No. 22 in the final 2023 AP poll and are playing in the ACC for the 2024 season.

Games Played: 79
Overall Series: 46-30-3
at BYU: 27-13-1
at Wyoming: 17-17-2
Neutral: 2-0
First game: 1922
Last game: 2022

The Cougars will visit Laramie, Wyoming, for the first time since 2009 on Sept. 14 for a matchup at War Memorial Stadium.

Former conference mates, BYU and Wyoming are matching up for the 80th time overall and 37th time in Wyoming. The Cougars hold 46-30-3 advantage in the series and are 17-17-2 as the road team.

BYU has won nine straight against the Cowboys, with Wyoming’s last victory coming in Laramie in 2003.

The Cowboys enter 2024 after having posted a winning season in seven of the last eight years with Craig Bohl at the helm, who retired after the 2023 season. New head coach Jay Sawvel takes over after serving as the defensive coordinator for the past four seasons in Wyoming.

Games Played: 8
Overall Series: 4-4
at BYU: 3-0
at Kansas State: 0-4
Neutral: 1-0
First game: 1957
Last game: 1996

BYU will host Kansas State on Saturday, Sept. 21 to open Big 12 play. The two schools have met eight times previously, with the most recent game coming in the 1997 Cotton Bowl. 

BYU entered the New Year’s Day contest against the No. 14 Wildcats ranked No. 5 after going 13-1 during the 1996 season, including beating Wyoming in the WAC Championship game. Quarterback Steve Sarkisian threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns and defensive back Omarr Morgan intercepted Kansas State in the final drive to secure the win and a then-NCAA record 14th victory. 

The Wildcats last visited Provo in 1977. The Cougars hold a 3-0 advantage at home, while Kansas State owns a 4-0 record in Manhattan. 

Last season, the Wildcats went 9-4, with a 6-3 mark in Big 12 action to finish tied for fourth. Head coach Chris Klieman has led Kansas State to bowl games in four of his five seasons since moving on from North Dakota State, where he won four national championships at the FCS level.

Games Played: 4
Overall Series: 2-2
at BYU: 2-0
at Baylor: 0-2
Neutral: 0-0
First game: 1983
Last game: 2022

The Cougars return to Waco, Texas, for the second time in four years with a matchup against Baylor on Saturday, Sept. 28 at McLane Stadium.

The two teams met in 2022 in Provo, with BYU getting a thrilling 26-20 victory in double-overtime prior to becoming conference mates. In 2021, the Cougars played at McLane Stadium and fell to the Bears, 38-24. The Bears went on to a 12-2 record that season and won the Sugar Bowl.

The 2023 season wasn’t what the Bears had hoped for, going 3-9 and finishing on a five-game losing streak. The Bears two conference victories last season were against newcomers UCF and Cincinnati. Head coach Dave Aranda retooled his staff with new offensive coaches for 2024.

Games Played: 25
Overall Series: 12-12-1
at BYU: 4-3-0
at Arizona: 6-8-1
Neutral: 2-1-0
First game: 1936
Last game: 2021

BYU and Arizona will meet on Saturday, Oct. 12 for the 26th time overall and fourth occasion since 2016. 

The Wildcats are making their eighth visit to Provo, most recently coming in 2007. The Cougars won that game 20-7 in quarterback Max Hall’s first game at BYU. The two schools met most recently in 2021 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas where the Cougars also won, 24-16, in that season’s opener.

The series between the two schools, who were once conference opponents during Arizona’s time in the WAC from 1962-1978, is tied 12-12-1 and dates back to the first contest in 1936. 

 After a breakout year in 2023 when Arizona won 10 games for the first time since 2014, the Wildcats welcome a new head coach to lead the program in Brent Brennan after Jedd Fisch departed to Washington. As members of the Pac-12 last season, the Wildcats finished ranked No. 11, their highest ranking since Dick Tomey’s 1998 squad finished No. 4. 

Games Played: 3
Overall Series: 0-3
at BYU: 0-0
at Oklahoma State: 0-1
Neutral: 0-2
First game: 1974
Last game: 2023

Last year’s BYU season finale will be revisited with the Cowboys of Oklahoma State coming to LaVell Edwards Stadium on either Friday, Oct. 18 or Saturday, Oct. 19. The finalized game date and time will be announced later.

BYU gave Oklahoma State all the Cowboys could handle last season, building an 18-point lead before losing the advantage late in the fourth quarter and then coming back to force overtime. A turnover in the second overtime by the Cougars ended their hopes for an upset victory and bowl eligibility, while the Cowboys earned a second-place conference finish at 7-2. 

Prior to last year’s game, the Cougars and Cowboys met twice previously in bowl games in 1974 and 1976.

Head coach Mike Gundy returns in 2024 for his 20th season as head coach at Oklahoma State. The school’s winningest coach enters 2024 with a record of 166-79 after finishing 10-4 last year while advancing to the Big 12 title game, going to a bowl game for an 18th consecutive season winning the Texas Bowl and earning a No. 16 final ranking. 

Games Played: 3
Overall Series: 2-1
at BYU: 1-0
at UCF: 0-1
Neutral: 1-0
First game: 2011
Last game: 2020

The Cougars make their longest road trip of 2024 with a trip to the Sunshine State to take on UCF in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday, Oct. 26 at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

Newcomers to the Big 12 in 2023, the two schools have met three times, with BYU taking two of the three in the series to date.

The Cougars beat UCF 49-23 in the 2020 Boca Raton Bowl in a game that featured quarterbacks Zach Wilson for the Cougars and Dillon Gabriel for the Knights. Wilson threw for 425 yards and three touchdowns while running for two more scores in his final game before being drafted No. 2 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.

UCF finished 2023 as the only newcomer to the Big 12 to make a bowl game before falling to Georgia Tech in the Gasparilla Bowl to finish the year at 6-7.

Games Played: 95
Overall Series: 32-59-4
at BYU: 16-21-1
at Utah: 16-37-3
Neutral: 0-1-0
First game: 1922
Last game: 2021

A revival of one of the best rivalries in college football, BYU and Utah meet in a conference game for the first time since 2010 when BYU visits Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 9. 

It is the first time since 1953 where the two schools will meet in the regular season with both schools having bye weeks before the matchup. It is also the earliest the two schools have played a league game against each other since 1977’s Nov. 5 matchup in Provo in the Western Athletic Conference. 

The two schools last met in 2021 when BYU beat the Utes 26-17 in Provo, snapping a nine-game losing streak for the Cougars. BYU never trailed in the game.

This will be the 96th meeting in the longtime rivalry. They played every year since 1922 with the exception of World War II years (1943-45) before the two schools departed the Mountain West Conference after the 2010 season, which changed the dynamic of scheduling for both universities. From 2011 to 2021, the two rivals still played nine times when Utah was in the Pac-12 and BYU was an independent, including for the first time in a bowl game, at the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl. Utah leads the series 59-32-4.

Utah went 8-5 last year and finished fifth in the final year of the Pac-12. BYU alum Kyle Whittingham starts his 20th season as head coach of the Utes in 2024.

Games Played: 2
Overall Series: 0-2
at BYU: 0-0
at Kansas: 0-1
Neutral: 0-1
First game: 1992
Last game: 2023

In another first time to Provo trip, the Kansas Jayhawks visit on Saturday, Nov. 16.  

Last year, Kansas beat BYU 38-27 in the Cougars’ first conference game as a member of the Big 12. BYU had a lead going into halftime but after an early second-half turnover the Jawhawks’ offense got rolling and pulled away with the win in Lawrence. 

The two schools also met in the 1992 Aloha Bowl, where Kansas trailed early but came back for a 23-20 victory. 

Kansas is looking to build off its first winning season since 2008 with last year’s 9-4 run. Head coach Lance Leipold returns several key pieces for the team that finished 2023 ranked No. 23 in the AP poll.

Games Played: 28
Overall Series: 8-20
at BYU: 4-8
at Arizona State: 4-12
Neutral: 0-0
First game: 1935
Last game: 2021

Former Western Athletic Conference foes BYU and Arizona State meet at Mountain America Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 23 now as members of the Big 12. It will be BYU’s first visit to Tempe since the 1997 season when the Cougars beat the Sun Devils, 13-10. 

The two schools have met 28 times previously, with Arizona State holding a 20-8 record in the series that mostly recently featured a 2021 matchup at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The Cougars won that game, 27-17, beating a No. 19-ranked Sun Devil team. 

Arizona State is looking to bounce back from a 3-9 record in 2023, which included a six-game losing streak midseason. The Sun Devils did pick up a victory against Washington State and a road win at UCLA down the stretch.

Games Played: 3
Overall Series: 3-0
at BYU: 1-0
at Houston: 2-0
Neutral: 0-0
First game: 2013
Last game: 2020

BYU hosts second-year Big 12 member Houston on Saturday, Nov. 30 in the 2024 regular-season finale. The Cougars from Houston have visited Provo once before, when BYU beat them 33-25 in 2014. 

Quarterback Taysom Hill ran for 160 yards and threw for 200 more and running back Jamaal Williams ran for 139 and two touchdowns in that game while BYU’s defense stymied the Houston run-game to just nine total rushing yards. 

In the last meeting, BYU played at Houston during the 2020 season. Quarterback Zach Wilson led BYU back from a 26-14 deficit in the third quarter with 29 unanswered points, including three touchdown passes en route to a 43-26 win at TDECU Stadium. 

Houston will have a new head coach in 2024 as Willie Fritz takes over after moving on from Tulane. The Cougars went 4-8 in their inaugural Big 12 season last year.