Friday night college football was always inevitable, and we finally have the full schedule of FOX‘s “College Football Friday” games in 2026.
The list includes five Big 12 schools, including two head-to-head league games, as a result of several games across the country shifting from Saturday to Friday in hopes of carving out new television territory for Power Four football.
Here’s a look at all three Big 12 games coming to Friday night:
Sept. 11 – Missouri at Kansas, 8 p.m.
Last year, Kansas and Missouri renewed the Border War for the first time in 15 years, and needless to say, it was a major success, drawing 1.8 million viewers on ESPN2. The Tigers defeated the Jayhawks 42-31 after rallying back from a 21-6 deficit in Columbia. The rivalry now moves to Friday night, where there’s big potential for another high-ratings affair should both teams bring a quality product to Lawrence. It’s also worth mentioning that this game is only the second game of the season after their Week 1 gimmes, so it’ll be as true an assessment as any for how both squads will fare next season.
Sept. 18 – Houston at Texas Tech, 8 p.m.
This particular matchup had a Texas Tech booster trending on X for quite some time after publicly criticizing the Big 12 for moving its in-state home contest with the Cougars to Friday night in high school football heaven. It’s a logical reason to be upset, but we’re talking about television here, folks. If the league sees a road to even more eyeballs, it’s going to take it. Especially with two coaches like Joey McGuire and Willie Fritz? Forget about it!
Nov. 27 – West Virginia at Utah, 8 or 9 p.m.
The newest of the bunch, Utah announced Friday that it’d move its Week 12 regular-season finale with West Virginia from Saturday, Nov. 28, to Friday, Nov. 27 instead. In this scenario, I can’t really blame the Utes for preferring not to drag out that final week of the season, and instead add a weekend’s worth of rest to their advantage if, say, they were in contention for a bowl or, who knows, even a Big 12 title game? The downside is playing a football game just six days after returning from TCU in Week 11.
