IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference and ESPN announced that six conference men’s basketball games were selected for Big Monday telecasts. The season marks the 30th season the conference has been showcased on Big Monday as part of a long-standing arrangement with ESPN.
Each of the six games are set for 7 p.m. MT starts on ESPN.
BYU will host Arizona on Jan. 26 at the Marriott Center after the two teams split their meetings in 2025. After dropping an 85-74 decision to the Wildcats in Provo, Richie Saunders hit two free throws in the final seconds to give the Cougars a 96-95 win and their first win streak in Tucson in the series history.
| Big 12 Big Monday Matchups | ||
| January 26, 2026 | Arizona at BYU | Provo, Utah |
| February 2, 2026 | Kansas at Texas Tech | Lubbock, Texas |
| February 9, 2026 | Arizona at Kansas | Lawrence, Kansas |
| February 16, 2026 | Houston at Iowa State | Ames, Iowa |
| February 23, 2026 | Houston at Kansas | Lawrence, Kansas |
| March 2, 2026 | Iowa State at Arizona | Tucson, Arizona |
Entering Kevin Young’s second season in Provo, BYU is ranked in the Top 25 in multiple outlets' preseason Top 25 rankings (No. 3, CBS Sports; No. 6, ESPN; No. 16, Blue Ribbon). In 2024-25, BYU went 26-10 overall and 14-6 in Big 12 play to finish tied for third after being picked to finish ninth in the league’s preseason poll.
First Team All-Big 12 performer Richie Saunders returns for his senior season after leading the Cougars to the Sweet 16 last season where he averaged 22.0 points, shooting 59.5 percent, 41.7 percent from three and 100.0 percent from the charity stripe in the NCAA Tournament. The Riverton native is joined by the nation’s top recruit in AJ Dybantsa, who was named the Most Valuable Player at his past summer’s FIBA U19 World Cup en route to leading USA Basketball to the title.
Robert Wright III, the eighth-best transfer in the country according to ESPN, makes the move to BYU after spending his freshman season at Baylor. The member of the Big 12 freshman team will be joined by transfers Kennard Davis Jr., Nate Pickens and Tyler Mrus.