As we await the Big 12’s 2026 football schedule announcement, Pete Thamel reported on Tuesday night that Arizona State at Texas Tech will be played in Week 7. That means it would be played the weekend of Saturday, October 17th.
There’s no guarantee the game is on that Saturday, given the ever-changing scheduling of college football, with more games on Thursdays and Fridays than ever before. However, expect that premier Big 12 match up to be on Saturday, if I was guessing.
The Arizona State vs. Texas Tech match up has become one of the better, potentially-budding rivalries in the league. In 2024 Texas Tech won 30-22 in Lubbock. And then last year, Arizona State handed Tech it’s only loss of the regular season with a 26-22 win in Tempe.
Big 12 Championship Game is Moving to Friday Night
While we are still 11 months away from the Big 12 championship game, it appears that a big change is on the horizon. ESPN’s Pete Thamel also reported on Tuesday night that the Big 12 title game will be played on Friday December 4th at 7 p.m. CT.
Since the Big 12 championship game made a comeback in 2017, the game was always played on Saturday during the early time slot. While the day and time have changed, the venue will not as the game will still be played in Arlington at AT&T Stadium.
This likely helps ESPN as they can move the ACC Championship Game into the early Saturday window, which is better than the league trying to compete with the Big Ten Championship Game in prime time. So the Big 12 would play Friday evening, and then the line up on Saturday, in order, would likely be: ACC, SEC and Big Ten, giving each conference an exclusive, stand-alone window.
