Baylor, BYU Schedule 2021-22 Football Series

By Kevin Kelley -

The Baylor Bears and the BYU Cougars have scheduled a home-and-home football series for 2021 and 2022, both schools announced today.

In the first game of the series, Baylor will host BYU at McLane Stadium in Waco in 2021. The Bears will then travel to face the Cougars at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo in 2022.

Baylor and BYU previously met in a home-and-home football series back in 1983 (Waco) and 1984 (Provo). The two schools split the series with Baylor winning the first game 40-36 and BYU evening the series with a 47-13 victory.

“We are excited to set a home and home series with a tradition-rich, faith-based football program like BYU,” Baylor Director of Athletics Ian McCaw said. “This will be another strength of schedule enhancement and a high quality intersectional game that will be appealing to television and the fans of both programs.”

With the addition of BYU, Baylor now has three non-conference games scheduled for both the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Bears are also slated to visit Louisiana Tech and host Texas State in 2021 and host Louisiana Tech and visit Texas State in 2022.

In both 2021 and 2022, BYU has been approved by Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby as an opponent that will satisfy their Power Five non-conference scheduling mandate.

“We are excited to have Baylor on our schedule again,” said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. “The last series between the two schools featured two legendary hall of fame coaches in LaVell Edwards and Grant Teaff. Baylor is an exceptional football program and it’s great to see the two schools competing again.”

BYU, an FBS Independent, now has seven opponents lined up for the 2021 season and five for 2022. Other opponents slated for the 2021 season include Arizona, Arizona State, USF, Boise State, Virginia, and USC.

In 2022, BYU is also scheduled to face Oregon, USF, Boise State, and Stanford.

Football Schedules

Comments (25)

Two takeaways:
1) Baylor must like the State of Utah, they have the BYU series in ’21, ’22 and then one with Utah in ’23, ’24
2) BYU is now considered a P5 opponent by SEC, ACC, B1G and B12 (P12 doesn’t have OOC SoS requirement … yet)

Yep BYU isn’t ND but they are the best independent in the West and I have always considered them a P5 program. So that’s good news for their school that every conference is treating them like a P5…

I assumed that Baylor and BYU would play–Baylor needing to beef up their schedule and BYU needing teams. Glad that it’s now in writing.

The Baylor-Texas Tech game must be moving back to campus. Otherwise, Baylor will only have five home games in 2023.

BYU should join the Big 12 yes, but they’d still compete as a football independent through 2020. I’m projecting Boise State, Memphis, Houston, Temple and SMU also joining the Big 12 soon, with the American schools beginning Big 12 football competition right away and the Western schools playing a few seasons as football independents until moving into Big 12 football in 2021, at which point BYU’s scheduled games against Boise State and Baylor get absorbed into that season’s conference schedule. Granted, one other 2021 game for BYU will have to be moved to like 2023 due to the move to a 9-game conference schedule, but BYU will get used to the Big 12.

Several of the BYU future football series have outs if they join a P5 conference. I don’t recall which ones were revealed through FOIA requests–but there were at least a few.

The subset of agreements with buyouts are very similar to the subset of agreements that are with non-P5s. Even Boise has the out for either program going to a P5 conference.

That would be great but I don’t see the B12 expanding west. I think BYU should try to get an agreement to ply 3 games per year against the P 12 and B 12. That would give them 6 games, the make another agreement with Notre Dame for a season ending game every year when the other conferences are playing their CCG. They can fill in the other five games against quality opponents and have a strong SOS every year. That would make them more attractive to bowl games and the CFB play offs. I don’t see them joining the MWC or the AAC.

The Big 12 needs to just add BYU and Cincinnati already and this can be a conference game.

A good series for both programs.

The Big10 and Big 12 are requiring teams play an OC game with at least one team from a P5 conference. Most of the PAC 12 does this already. Basically a 10 game schedule with P5 teams. In the ACC in 2016 only 5 teams play will play 10 games with P5 teams (Clemson FSU UNC Pitt and VT) In the SEC only UGA plays 10 games with P5 teams. ND only plays 9 games with P5 teams.

I hope beginning this year the playoff committee starts taking the 10 game regular season games with P5 teams into consideration as well as the CCG, meaning 11 games for the teams in the CCG..

Tully even though you are right about 10 power 5 games for the Big’s, you fail to mention that the SEC and ACC require members to play at least one OOC Power 5 opponent. Was this an over site or just a hater trying to dis the SEC? I wish the SEC would move to a 9 game schedule but even if they don’t the strength of schedule for the SEC dwarfs most others year in and year out. Alabama. Auburn, Florida and LSU can also claim something that only 2 others (FSU and TOSU) can claim over the past 10 years. How many national titles have the Pac 12 and Big 12 won? ZERO

Nope not an oversight or a hater… I see the trend is 10 games with P5 teams. The Big 10, Big 12 and PAC 12 all play 9 game conference schedules. These conferences consist of 14 teams, 10 teams and 12 teams. The PAC 12 does not have a rule requiring an OOC game with a P5 team, yet almost every PAC 12 team plays at least one OOC game with a P5 team. In 2016 of the PAC 12 teams only WSU will not play an OOC game with a P5 team. And for me I do not care if WSU Wake Forest Kansas Illinois play a P5 team OOC, I do not see them being playoff contenders

The ACC and SEC have 8 game regular seasons, and now are moving to require one OOC game with a P5 team. In 2016 5 teams in the ACC and one team in the SEC will play 10 games with P5 teams. In the ACC chances are the teams which could make a playoff run are among those five. Boston College will only play 8 games with P5 teams.

The NCAA is not going to mandate how conferences schedule,

Given we are talking about independents, and conference with 10, 12 and 14 teams I am suggesting the Playoff Committee use the 10 games with P5 teams in the regular season as a factor, just the same way they should factor in the Big 12 and ND fo not play a CCG. In fact the Big 12 has an extra bye week for 4-6 teams a year. That extra bye week can be an advantage and not playing a 13th game in 14 weeks is also a an advantage. Chances are the conference champions of the ACC, Big 10 and PAC 12 will play 11 games with P5 teams including the CCG.

I do see a 9 game schedule with P5 teams as having an extra bye week. Especially if every year 3 of the four OOC games are all home games with non P5 teams, you know “payoff games”.

In 2016 of the sixty five P5 programs only 27 will not play 10 games with P5 teams. Yes 24 of those are in the ACC and SEC,and ND. If I am on the playoff committee from the PAC 12. Big 10 and even the Big 12 I am making that an issue, just like in 2014 the committee use the lack of a playoff game to keep a Big 12 team out and let tOSU in.

It does nor matter to me how a team gets to 10 games with P5 teams For FSU, Clemson, VT Pitt UNC and UGA they get there with 2 OOC games with P5 teams. At this time in 2017 and 2019 Florida and UGA will be the only teams in the SEC playing 10 regular season games with P5 teams.

The different conferences are going to do what works best for each conference, I think a better question when looking at the playoffs is which programs are not playing at least 10 regular season games with P5 teams. (11 counting CCGS)

Baylor’s OOC scheduling has been been mocked for several years and rightfully so.They are not adding OOC games with P5 teams because they want to. The trend is forcing that change.

UGA a correction to my reply comment. In 2016 GT will also play two OOC games with P5 teams. This means in 2016 only 26 of 65 P5 teams will play 9 or fewer games with P5 teams.

A quick look at 2017 shows again six teams in the ACC will play 10 games with P5 teams, and in the SEC UGA and Florida will play 10 games with P5 teams.

In 2017 in the Big 12 every team will play at least 10 games with P5 teams.

It is very possible as soon as 2017 less than 20 teams will play less than 10 regular season games with P5 teams.

If I am on the playoff committee and the teams from my conference played 11 games including the CCG with P5 teams, yeah I am going to make that an issue compared to teams which only played 10.

When you are a team being considered for a play off spot and one loss can be to many and two losses seems to most certainly be to many, playing only 9 regular season games with P5 teams is an advantage. Playing only 10 games with P5 teams is an advantage over teams playing 11 games with P5 teams. In 2014 FSU played 12 games with P5 teams, counting the CCG before the playoffs

Blah Blah Blah count the Banners. Baylor plays chumps, they do not have any. Alabama. Florida, Auburn and LSU play each other, have many, Beat the SEC then talk all the crap you want Tully Ohio St and FSU are the only dogs in this fight as they have beaten SEC teams in games that count

The playoff committee needs to start seriously penalizing schools wh aren’t scheduling at least 10 regular season games against Power 5 competition. Seriously—SEC, atop scheduling cream puffs and FCS teams in November.

Ryan should we start counting teams like Houston, Cincinnati, BYU as Power 5? I don’t know the answer but it is a fair question. In some seasons Memphis, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, etc. are solid teams. How do you gauge who is worthy? Any of those schools I typed are better than Maryland, Rutgers. Wake Forest, Illinois and Vanderbilt on a year to year basis. So tell me your plan

Are we sure this isn’t a fledgling BYU-Hawai’i football team that Baylor is scheduling??

Ha ha ha! Or, may be the real announcement lost in the shuffle is that there will be a new BYU-Nauvoo University.

Baylor thought they were signing up Incarnate Word/Utah. Baylor will never be in the national playoff picture.