Big 12 Early Season 2016 Football TV Schedule Announced

By Kevin Kelley -

The Big 12 early season 2016 football TV schedule has been announced, which features 21 games on the FOX and ESPN networks in the first three weeks.

The action kicks off on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:30pm ET when Baylor hosts Northwestern State on FSN.

On Black Friday, Nov. 25, TCU visits Texas at 3:30pm ET on FOX or FS1 and then Texas Tech hosts Baylor at 6:00pm ET on ESPN.

Listed below are the Big 12 games have been selected for television as of June 1. All remaining Big 12 controlled games will be announced six-to-12 days prior to the date of the game.

Big 12 Early Season 2016 Football TV Schedule
All times Eastern.

Friday, Sept. 2
Northwestern State at Baylor – 7:30pm, FSN
Kansas State at Stanford – 9:00pm, FS1

Saturday, Sept. 3
Missouri at West Virginia – Noon, FS1
SE Louisiana at Oklahoma State – 3:30pm, FSN
Rhode Island at Kansas – 7pm, JTV
Northern Iowa at Iowa State – 8pm, Cyclones.tv
South Dakota State at TCU – 8pm, FSN
Stephen F. Austin at Texas Tech – 8pm, FSN
Oklahoma vs. Houston – TBA

Sunday, Sept. 4
Notre Dame at Texas – 7:30pm, ABC

Saturday, Sept. 10
Central Michigan at Oklahoma State – Noon, FS1
Youngstown State at West Virginia – 2pm, TV TBA
Ohio at Kansas – 2:30pm, FSN
SMU at Baylor – 3:30pm, FS1
Arkansas at TCU – 7pm, ESPN or ESPN2
ULM at Oklahoma – 7pm, FS OK
UTEP at Texas – 7pm, LHN
Iowa State at Iowa – 7:30pm, BTN
Texas Tech at Arizona State – 10pm, FS1

Friday, Sept. 16
Baylor at Rice – 8pm, ESPN

Saturday, Sept. 17
Iowa State at TCU – Noon, FS1
Kansas at Memphis – Noon, ESPNU
FAU at Kansas State – 2:30pm, FSN
Pittsburgh at Oklahoma State – 3:30pm, ESPN
Louisiana Tech at Texas Tech – 7pm, FSN
Ohio State at Oklahoma – 7:30pm, FOX
Texas at California – 10:30pm, ESPN or ESPN

Saturday, Sept. 24
Missouri State at Kansas State – 7pm, K-StateHD.tv

Thursday, Sept. 29
Kansas at Texas Tech – 8:30pm, FS1

Saturday, Oct. 8
Texas vs. Oklahoma (Dallas) – TBA, FS1

Saturday, Oct. 15
Iowa State at Texas – TBA, LHN/Cyclones.tv

Thursday, Nov. 3
Oklahoma at Iowa State – 7:30pm, ESPN

Friday, Nov. 25
TCU at Texas – 3:30pm, FOX or FS1
Baylor vs. Texas Tech (Arlington) – 6pm, ESPN

Comments (12)

I thought since this was the 1st year with FOX picking the games they want before ESPN they would put the Red River Rivalry on FOX over the air. When was the last time ESPN/ABC didn’t air the game?

Looks like it was 1998, when it aired on FSN (thanks to Oklahoma not having had a winning season since ’93 and Texas going 4-7 in ’97). That year was the only year since 1990 that the game hasn’t been on ABC.

Being in Canada, I cannot watch the Texas vs Oklahoma game as we don’t get Fox Sports One. Not too happy about this.

OU-UT on FS1 are we sure that’s not an error? That game is always on ABC/ESPN.

If it is correct, I am surprised…

Oklahoma-Texas on FS1 is stupid. This is always a big time game and should always be broadcasted on ABC/ESPN. I think Ohio State-Oklahoma should be on ESPN as well. This just shows that the Big 12 doesn’t get the amount of respect as it deserves along with the Pac 12.

I wouldn’t say that Texas-OU being on FS1 is due to a lack of respect for the Big 12. It’s more of a product of Fox continuing to invest in college football and obtaining the rights to bigger and better games. The 2016 season is the first time that Fox had the right to select first with respect to the weekly selections, and it appears they took Week 3 first (so they could select Oklahoma-Ohio State), ESPN/ABC took Week 1 second (so they could select Texas-Notre Dame) and then Fox took Week 6 (so they could select Texas-OU). I don’t see how Texas-OU being on a Fox network is a lack of respect when we are about to see the Big Ten, one of the two most respected conferences, sell half their broadcast rights to Fox as well. We are going to have to get used to seeing Texas-OU, Ohio State-Michigan, USC-Notre Dame, USC-UCLA, and other classic match-ups on Fox networks.

With respect to the game being on FS1 instead of the over-the-air network, I think you have a couple things at play. First, Fox will have MLB playoff commitments that day, so there’s a chance they are holding back a Fox afternoon time slot for playoff baseball (Texas-OU being at night isn’t an option for several reasons). Secondly, Fox is working to make FS1 more relevant and the best way to accomplish that is force viewers to the channel with better programming. I suspect the Texas-OU game will have the highest ratings of any college football game they have ever put on FS1.

Jay Dee
Texas-Oklahoma not on ABC/ESPN or FOX is big mistake for such an important rivalry game. Pull your heads out.