Big 12 releases non-conference TV schedule. What to watch and why

By Mike Marteny | Jul 1, 2014

Nov 28, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; A general view of AT&T Stadium as the sun enters from the west during a NFL football game between the Oakland Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /

The Big 12 released their non-conference football schedule today. Here are the games you should watch and why! All times are central time.

August 30:

North Dakota State at Iowa State (11am FOXSPORTS1): The Bison are coming off of their third straight 1-AA National Championship. But this is not the same team that beat Kansas State in Manhattan last year. Coach Craig Bohl is off to the mountains of Wyoming. Four year starting QB Brock Jensen is gone. There are questions about whether the program can continue down the path Bohl put them on. This will be a good Litmus test.

Alabama vs. West Virginia at Atlanta (2:30pm, ABC): WVU got blasted by LSU in last year’s opener. This shouldn’t be much different. But hey, at least they have the stones to play SEC teams out of conference.

Florida State vs. Oklahoma State at Arlington, TX (7pm, ABC): The Big 12 owns the marquee games on the first weekend, but it is mostly because of their opponents. The Noles begin their defense of the national title at Jerry World against a good offense, but no defense.

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September 6:

Kansas State at Iowa State (11am, FOXSPORTS1): This is the conference opener for the Big 12, and it might be a good one. The Cyclones are always tough in Ames.

Oklahoma at Tulsa (11am, ESPN2): This will be your first chance to watch the conference favorites without having to pay for it, and a little intra-state rivalry is always fun!

BYU at Texas (6:30pm, FOXSPORTS1): The Cougars embarrassed Texas in Provo last year. That was the first crack in the foundation of the Mack Brown regime. We all know what happened after that. The Horns will be after some Texas-sized revenge.

September 13:

Arkansas at Texas Tech (2:30pm, ESPN): Bret Bielema is still trying to get the Piggies back on track after three awful seasons. Hey, only one of them was his! This will be a good indicator of whether they are a bowl team or not.

UTSA at Oklahoma State (6pm, FOXSPORTS1): Don’t snicker. The Roadrunners ran up 35 on the Pokes last year.

UCLA vs. Texas at Arlington, TX (6pm, FOX): Jerry World gets another marquee game. This one pits Tim Brando’s number one against Texas. The Horns better have their defense in place, or they will get run ragged in this one.

Tennessee at Oklahoma (7pm, ABC): This won’t be the marquee game that both schools thought it would be when they made the agreement, but Tennessee does seem to be on the way up. This is a really tough road test for the young Vols though.

September 18:

Auburn at Kansas State (6:30pm, ESPN): Manhattan on a Thursday night. With a tough SEC opponent in tow. These are two teams that usually get blasted for weak OOC schedules (the Wildcats played two 1-AA schools last year!), so it’s nice to see them step up!

Which game(s) are you looking forward to?

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