5 Big 12 football games you won't want to miss

The 2026 season is about to kick off. The Big 12 starts the season with four teams — Texas Tech, BYU, Utah and Houston — ranked in both national polls.

Will those teams live up to that billing? Time will tell.

But here are five games that will go a long way in determining the race this season.

Arizona at BYU, Sept. 12

The teams played last season in Tucson, with the Cougars prevailing 33-27 in double overtime. The Wildcats experienced quite the resurgence in 2025 and boasted one of the top defenses in the conference. They graduated some top-notch athletes, but the foundation was in place. Arizona has the most experienced quarterback in the country in Noah Fifita, who is blessed with a solid receiving core. This is an early conference game, so it should set the tone for what's to come.

Houston at Texas Tech, Sept. 18

Houston was one of the surprises in the conference a year ago with its 10-3 overall and 6-3 finish in the conference. It was the school's best showing since a 12-2 mark in 2021. The Cougars are looking to build on that with an offense that returns 10 starters, including QB Conner Weigman and WR Amare Thomas. This game should show if the Cougars are ready to take the next step.

Arizona State at Texas Tech, Oct. 17

Let's face it. The Red Raiders have perhaps the easiest schedule in the conference. It doesn't include BYU, and it also misses Utah and Houston. Texas Tech faces the three teams that finished last in the conference in 2025, and has five of the worst seven from that time on the schedule. Arizona and ASU are the only real challenges, and we'll slot the ASU game in here because ASU did upset the then-No. 7 Red Raiders a year ago, 26-22, handing them their only regular-season loss.

Arizona State at BYU, Oct. 31

ASU is the only team in the conference that will face the two teams that played for the conference title a year ago. Both games come on the road. The Texas Tech game is first, so if ASU gets past that, this one would have even bigger title implications. Things didn't go well the last time ASU played in Provo. That was 2021, with BYU prevailing 27-17. In that game, ASU had more than 100 yards in penalties and had trouble getting a snap off without a false start.

BYU at Utah, Nov. 7

The fact that this is a huge rivalry game is enough to add it to the list, but most projections also have both in the hunt for a Big 12 title. Utah has seen change with former defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley taking over after veteran Kyle Whittingham departed for Ann Arbor, Michigan. It's an interesting quarterback battle between Utah senior Devon Dampier and BYU sophomore Bear Bachmeier. BYU went 12-2 last year, while Utah went 11-2. Utah leads the Holy War series 62-37-4.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 5 Big 12 football games you won't want to miss