Two Big 12 Schools Look Like They Have Finalized Their Football Schedule
STILLWATER -- With the news of the NCAA giving out blanket permission slips for college football teams to play on "zero" week Saturday, Aug. 29, it appears the Big 12 schools are needing to add to and finish out their schedules following the Big Ten and Pac-12 suddenly falling back to playing conference games only during this COVID-19 threatened season.
We know that in order to clear some space inside the schedule for those "just in case" situations where players could test positive for the coronavirus, that both Oklahoma and Kansas have moved their first games to the zero week and Aug. 29. Oklahoma will play their opening opponent originally scheduled for Sept. 5 in Missouri State. Kansas lost their opening opponent in New Hampshire when they cancelled their season for the fall. KU will now host Southern Illinois in the opener.
Oklahoma State is said to have their eyes on scheduling their make up for Oregon State, which pulled out of the game in Stillwater scheduled for Sept. 3 on Thursday as part of the Pac-12 elimination of non conference games. As it turns out, Oregon State, who promised to make good later on the return for the Cowboys visit to Corvallis in the 2019 opener, could end up helping the Cowboys. There is said to be a discussion of BYU coming to Stillwater and in return Oregon State would make a future trip to Provo to play the Cougars. BYU lost five games in the Big Ten/Pac-12 move including the first four on their schedule.
Oklahoma State's deputy athletic director Chad Weiberg is the schedule master for football and has done an excellent job. He is keeping information on this situation close to the vest. However, Pokes Report has learned that Weiberg, head coach Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State want the cushion inside the schedule that comes with playing in zero week.
TCU, which was supposed to open their season on Saturday, Sept. 5 at California, is now said to have a handshake deal, but not a signed contract to play UNLV in Las Vegas. It is not certain if that game would be played in the new Allegiant Stadium which will be the home of the Las Vegas Raiders and UNLV, or in Sam Boyd Stadium, the old home of the UNLV football team. There is some thought that the Raiders want to play the first game in Allegiant Stadium.
Either way, it should be interesting as the game will be the first for former Oklahoma State running backs coach and Oregon offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo as head coach at UNLV. Also, TCU quarterback Justin Rogers transferred from Fort Worth in January to play for UNLV. That is very interesting.
Iowa State has filled in their opening, which was for the second Saturday and the annual rivalry with Iowa. Instead of traveling to Iowa City, the Cyclones will host Ball State, which lost a game scheduled for the same day at Michigan.
“As we make every effort to keep our staff and players healthy in these challenging COVID-19-related times, it should be an advantage to avoid team travel the first month of the season,” athletics director Jamie Pollard said in a statement. “There’s no question our guys like to play in , as we’ve won 11 of the last 14 games there,” Pollard said. “We remain hopeful that we can host fans this season, and the Ball State game will be a bonus for those with season tickets."
We continue to wait and see what comes up for the Cowboys.
