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Report: Big 12 Sets Two Conference Games Per Team in December
STILLWATER -- A few weeks after we learned the start date of the 2020-21 college hoops season, we now learn the Big 12 is expediting its conference schedule a bit.
According to a report by Jon Rothstein, the Big 12 has scheduled two conference games for each school in the month of December. The conference has "decided to play two conference games in December in an effort to be proactive regarding potential conflicts and cancellations related to COVID-19."
The dates of those games haven't been announced yet, but who each team is playing has been.
- Baylor: Texas, at Kansas State
- Iowa State: Kansas State, at West Virginia
- Kansas: West Virginia, at Texas Tech
- Kansas State: Baylor, at Iowa State
- Oklahoma: Texas Tech, at TCU
- Oklahoma State: TCU, at Texas
- TCU: Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State
- Texas: Oklahoma State, at Baylor
- Texas Tech: Kansas, at Oklahoma
- West Virginia: Iowa State, at Kansas
Nothing's been confirmed and nothing's set in stone, but I think we're going to see things happen like the updated conference schedule above happening until the end of the 2020-21 season.
The official start of the season was bumped back until Nov. 25, meaning Oklahoma State, as well as every other team in the country is having to do some rearranging to the schedules.
The Cowboys were originally scheduled to open the season on Nov. 10 against Green Bay, playing North Texas in the Hoop Hype XL College Basketball Showcase on Nov. 13 and play host to Arkansas Pine Bluff on Nov. 15. The Pokes are also scheduled to play in the Charleston Classic Nov. 19-22, which is now looking like it could be played in a bubble environment in the Orlando, FL area.
All of those games will need to be rescheduled based on the updated season schedule put out by the NCAA.
The updated scheduling rules for the upcoming season recommend a minimum of four non-conference games, a minimum of 13 games overall and a maximum of 27 games. The Cowboys play 18 conference games throughout the season. They're also playing a non-conference game against Marquette in the Big 12/Big East Battle and an unnamed team in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Jan 30.
You can check out the full schedule here, but there are multiple high-level opponents the Cowboys will want/need to play before the start of conference play sometime in December, including Wichita State and Virginia Tech.
So, based on the conference schedule and the four games of Big East, SEC, Virginia Tech and Wichita State, that makes 22 games on the Pokes' schedule, leaving just five spots remaining to get to a maximum of 27. It'll be interesting to see how Mike Boynton and Co. fill out the non-conference schedule.
