Today I will be breaking down and predicting Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah’s schedule this year in their first year in the Big 12. (Except for Colorado, who’s finally returning).
I believe Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah’s schedules will end up like this in 2024:
Arizona Wildcats Schedule:
Week 1: Vs New Mexico - W
Week 2: Vs Northern Arizona - W
Week 3: @ Kansas State - L
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: @ Utah - L
Week 6: Vs Texas Tech - W
Week 7: @ BYU - W
Week 8: Vs Colorado - W
Week 9: Vs West Virginia - W
Week 10: @ UCF - W
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: Vs Houston -W
Week 13: @ TCU - W
Week 14: Vs Arizona State – W
Arizona State Sun Devils Schedule:
Week 1: Vs Wyoming - W
Week 2: Vs Mississippi State - L
Week 3: @ Texas State - W
Week 4: @ Texas Tech - L
Week 5: Bye
Week 6: Vs Kansas - L
Week 7: Vs Utah - L
Week 8: @ Cincinnati - L
Week 9: Bye
Week 10: @ Oklahoma State - L
Week 11: Vs UCF - W
Week 12: @ Kansas State - L
Week 13: Vs BYU - W
Week 14: @ Arizona – L
Colorado Buffaloes
Week 1: Vs North Dakota State - W
Week 2: @ Nebraska - W
Week 3: @ Colorado State - W
Week 4: Vs Baylor - W
Week 5: @ UCF - L
Week 6: Bye
Week 7: Vs Kansas State - L
Week 8: @ Arizona - L
Week 9: Vs Cincinnati - W
Week 10: Bye
Week 11: @ Texas Tech - W
Week 12: Vs Utah - L
Week 13: @ Kansas - L
Week 14: Vs Oklahoma State - L
Utah Utes Schedule:
Week 1: Vs Southern Utah - W
Week 2: Vs Baylor - W
Week 3: @ Utah State - W
Week 4: @ Oklahoma State - L
Week 5: Vs Arizona - W
Week 6: Bye
Week 7: @ Arizona State - W
Week 8: Vs TCU - W
Week 9: @ Houston - W
Week 10: Bye
Week 11: Vs BYU - W
Week 12: @ Colorado - W
Week 13: Vs Iowa State - W
Week 14: @ UCF - L
Thoughts on Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah’s Upcoming Seasons:
I’ll start with Utah, who are looking like the favorites to win the Big 12 with Cam Rising returning. He didn’t play at all in 2023 after tearing his ACL against Penn State in the Rose Bowl the year prior, and that ruined Utah’s season. Utah finished 8-5 with a loss to Northwestern in their bowl game. They could only squeak out a 5-4 conference record, mainly because of their hard conference schedule. They had to play 6 ranked teams, UCLA, Oregon State, USC, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona. Although they did beat USC and UCLA, they lost to the 4 other teams. However, they get one of the easiest schedules this year. Their non-conference games consist of Southern Utah and Utah State, 2 easy wins. Although they have to play Baylor, it won’t count as a conference game because it was scheduled before Utah left the Pac 12. Anyways, that’s an easy win. The only losses I have on the schedule for Utah are on the road against Oklahoma State and on the road against UCF to finish the season. I think Oklahoma State will be the second-best team in the conference right after Utah. With the Utes on the road, I think they fall to OK State. I think something similar will happen in week 14 when Utah travels all the way to Orlando to take on UCF. I think the travel and going from what will probably be a snowy Utah to a sunny Florida might slow down Utah, and they fall to UCF. As for Utah’s conference wins, I think they will all be blowouts except for the Arizona win, which will definitely be a classic this year. Speaking of Arizona, they also have an easy schedule. In the non-con, Arizona will beat up on New Mexico and Northern Arizona, but I think with a coaching staff in which the head coach and both coordinators are all in their first season at those positions at Arizona will lead to a loss at Kansas State. Just like Utah’s game against Baylor, however, it will not count as a conference game. Coming off a bye week, Arizona will fall to Utah in their first Big 12 conference game. But from there, I don’t see Arizona losing another game. The only game I see that could give Arizona trouble is when they go to the bounce house to play UCF, but unlike Utah, Florida and Arizona have very similar climates. Arizona could very well run the table after a loss to Arizona, and I think Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan will make sure that happens. Next up is Colorado, who just like Stanford, I think they will improve this season, but this time their record will actually show it. I have them going 6-6 and starting out 4-0 with wins over North Dakota State, Nebraska, Colorado State, and Baylor. We all know that North Dakota State is an FCS powerhouse, but because the game is in Boulder, I think Colorado should coast to the win. They then beat their rivals Nebraska and Colorado State, but I think Nebraska could keep it close in that game. After 2 games on the road, Colorado comes back home and beats Baylor, but the after that. They go on the road to UCF, which for similar reasons to Utah’s loss, I think Colorado falls here too. Their next 5 losses are all too teams that are much better than Colorado, and I think the Buffs can beat both Cincinnati and Texas Tech. Colorado is obviously a hot topic in College Football, and if their 2024 season goes the way I predict it, they’ll finally start to get some respect. The final newcomer to the Big 12 conference this season is Arizona State. For me, I don’t think that Arizona State is going to have a good season. 4-8 is actually a step in the right direction for the Sun Devils, who went 3-9 last year and the year prior. They start the season 2-1, beating Wyoming and Texas State in the non-con while losing to Mississippi State. Their conference record is much tougher, however. They start it off on the road at Texas Tech, which is an easy loss. After their bye, they play both Kansas and Utah at home, two more easy losses. The next week, they play Cincy on the road. If this game was at home for Arizona State, I think they win. But taking the trek to Cincinnati ends up as a loss for ASU. As for their next 5 games, they beat UCF and BYU at home, but lose to Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Arizona on the road. If some of ASU’s games are flipped on where they are being played, the Sun Devils’ season could be very different.
Sorry for getting this post out so late, but next week I will have the SEC newcomers, Oklahoma and Texas, blogpost coming out on Friday.