Utah joins the Big 12 and is the favorite to win the conference in 2024. (Photo by Chris … (+)
The college football season begins in full swing on Labor Day weekend. Week 1 features 96 games but only 35 matchups between FBS opponents. That includes three key top-25 games and four new Big 12 teams beginning their seasons. The Big 12 schedule will include many of the most important games of the season as more teams aim for conference titles and the new 12-team College Football Playoff.
The Big 12 Conference now has 16 teams after the addition of former Pac-12 schools Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Arizona State. Both Texas and Oklahoma moved to the Southeastern Conference as superconferences form, with the SEC (9) and Big Ten (6) producing the most teams in the AP Top 25 early in the season as football expansion continues and more top players get big money through NIL deals and booster bankrolls.
College Football Preseason AP Top 25
Five Big 12 teams enter the season ranked in the AP Top 25 poll.
- No. 12 Utah Utes
- No. 17 Oklahoma State Cowboys
- No. 18 Kansas State Wildcats
- No. 21 Arizona Wildcats
- No. 22 Kansas Jayhawks
Iowa State, West Virginia and Colorado also received votes in the top 25 rankings.
Phil Steele’s College Football Preview sees Utah as his No. 1 Surprise team in 2024, with Oklahoma State (4) and Kansas State (6) also in the top 10. Arizona (13), Iowa State (14) and TCU (15) could also surprise, while UCF (6) and TCU (7) are in Steele’s top 10 Teams with the greatest progress.
Texas Christian has a rare visit to Stanford on Friday, Aug. 30, and TCU (-9.5) is a clear favorite against the former Pac 12 Cardinal, who now play in the ACC. Both Arizona and Arizona State open their seasons at home against Mountain West opponents on Saturday night, with the Wildcats (-31.5) taking on New Mexico while the ASU Sun Devils (-6.5) face Wyoming in Tempe.
The future of college football Increase profits
The dissolution of the Pac 12 creates four power conferences with at least 16 teams each in the SEC (16), Big Ten (18), Big 12 (16) and ACC (17). These four conferences now account for 50% of all FBS college football teams (134) in 10 conferences plus three independent schools.
Chances of Big 12 teams to win the national championship and advance to the College Football Playoffs
Betting odds And College Football Odds FanDuel Sportsbook odds are updated regularly and are subject to change, including for prop and live bets.
Quotas for the National Championship, followed by quotas for inclusion in the 12 teams College Football Playoff.
- Utah +6000 / +200
- State of Kansas +8000 / +250
- Oklahoma State +25000 / +650
- Kansas +25000 / +600
- Arizona +30000 / +750
- Central Florida (UCF) +30000 / +900
- State of Iowa +30000 / +1000
- Texas Tech +30000 / +1200
- Colorado +30000 / +1400
- Virginia +30000 / +1800
- TCU +30000 / +1800
Odds to win the Big 12 Championship
- Utah +280
- Kansas State +400
- Oklahoma State +850
- Central Florida (UCF) +850
- Iowa State +900
- Kansas +1000
- Arizona +1100
- TCU, West Virginia +1800
- Texas Tech +2100
- Colorado +2500
- Cincinnati, Baylor +8000
- Houston +10000
- State of Arizona +12500
- Brigham Young (BYU) +14000
Coach Prime Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes have the most money and bets of any Big 12 team to win the National Championship (top 5 overall) and make the 12-team College Football Playoff, according to betting data from FanDuel Sportsbook. Utah is one of the top 5 teams alongside Colorado in terms of bets to enter the CFP. Buffs QB Shedeur Sanders is the top most bet and most money college football player to win the Heiseman Trophy, with his odds down to 35/1.
BOULDER, CO: Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders celebrates with quarterback Shedeur … (+)
The 12 most important games
Betting odds for preseason football bets and listed favourites (-).
Big 12 College Football Preview, Odds and Teams to Watch
The 2024 Big 12 football schedule includes nine conference games for each team, plus other key contests as teams work toward conference titles, bowl games and the new 12-team College Football Playoff.
Penn State (-8.5) and West Virginia kick off Week 1 on August 31 with a Big Ten-Big 12 Power 4 conference game in Morgantown.
7 September
- State of Iowa at Iowa (-2.5) – In-state rivals play for the Cy-Hawk Trophy in the 71st meeting. Two Big 12 vs. Big Ten matchups open FanDuel’s college football games of the year in Week 2.
- Colorado at Nebraska (-6.5) – The former Big 12 rivals meet for the second consecutive year after Coach Prime and the Buffaloes rolled over the Huskers 36-14 in Boulder early last season, allowing a season-record 396 passing yards in Nebraska.
- Baylor at Utah – Big 12 opener and the Utes needed overtime to win 20-13 in Waco last season. They will score more than 2 touchdowns this season as head coach Kyle Whittingham begins his 20th season in Salt Lake City.
- State of Mississippi at State of Arizona – The first ever meeting, and ASU is the only Pac-12 team to play an SEC team this season. under ASU’s overall record in non-conference home games since 2017 is 11-1-1.
13 September
- Arizona at State of Kansas (-8.5) – A top-25 battle on Friday night and the first meeting since 1978, with the Wildcats playing K-State in Manhattan for the first time. Note that this is a Game outside the league for 2024, as was planned for the 2024 and 2025 seasons before the realignment. Both teams will play nine more Big 12 games.
14 September
21 September
- Utah (-1.5) at State of Oklahoma – First visit to Stillwater by the Utes, who last played against Oklahoma State in 1945.
- Kansas at West Virginia – The Big 12 opener for both teams. The last meeting in 2022 was the Jayhawks’ crazy 55-42 overtime win.
28 September
- State of Oklahoma at State of Kansas (-5.5) The Cowboys beat the Wildcats 29-21 as 11-point underdogs in Stillwater last season, but lost 48-0 the last time these two teams played in Manhattan with both teams ranked in the top 25.
- Arizona at Utah (-9.5) – This is Arizona’s true Big 12 opener, and the Wildcats enter the game after a break game for new head coach Brent Brennan. Arizona ended Utah’s six-game winning streak last season with a 42-18 victory in Tucson when both teams were ranked in the top 20 as Pac 12 opponents late in the season.
October 5
- West Virginia at State of Oklahoma
- Houston at TCU
October 12
- State of Kansas (-6.5) at Colorado – A
19 October
- State of Kansas at West Virginia – Two consecutive away games for K-State before the Wildcats face rival Kansas next week.
- Kansas at State of Kansas (6.5) – The K-State Wildcats have won 15 straight games against KU (11-4 ATS), with only four games decided by 10 points or less, including the Wildcats’ comeback win last season, 31-27. The 2024 Sunflower Showdown features two of the conference’s best quarterbacks: KU’s Jalon Daniels and K-State’s Avery Johnson.
26 October
- West Virginia at Arizona – First ever meeting between these two teams.
- Texas Tech at TCU
2 November
- TCU at Baylor – TCU has won 8 of its last 9 meetings, including four in a row.
9 November
- BYU at Utah – Both teams have a bye before this showdown and Holy War This bitter intra-state battle is now a conference game and an annual protected rivalry in the Big 12.
- State of Iowa at Kansas
16 November
23 November
- State of Iowa at Utah (-8.5) Second meeting with the last in 1977.
- Colorado at Kansas
- Texas Tech at State of Oklahoma
29 November (Friday)
- State of Oklahoma at Colorado
- Utah at UCF – first meeting
30 November
- State of Kansas at State of Iowa (PK) – The 108th meeting of the rivals, dubbed Farmageddon, is the first time the Cyclones have played a game in the snow, winning 42-35 on the road last year as 10-point underdogs.
- State of Arizona at Arizona – The 98th meeting of the Territorial Cup. Last year’s intrastate duel went to the Wildcats with a 59-23 road victory 120 hours northwest of Tucson in Tempe.
- West Virginia at Texas Tech
Leading Big 12 quarterbacks and Odds for the Heisman Trophy contain:
- Avery Johnson (+2500) – Kansas State
- Jalon Daniels (+3500) – Kansas
- Shedeur Sanders (+3500) – Colorado
- Cam Rising (+4000) – Utah
- Noah Fifita (+4000) – Arizona
- KJ Jefferson (+7500) – UCF
- Ollie Gordon II (+7500) – Oklahoma State
Toughest schedules
Houston (5) and West Virginia (7) have two of the toughest schedules in the country this season, according to Phile Steele’s College Football Preview. Colorado (13), Arizona State (19), BYU (23) and Iowa State (29) also have the toughest schedules, which rank among the 30 toughest in the country.
An extremely competitive conference race is expected in the Big 12. Underdogs will likely cause more small upsets in Big 12 events and betting as sports betting and college football continue to grow in popularity across the United States.
You can bet on it.
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