BYU football schedule set for 2025 season

Courtesy BYU Photo
BYU players run onto the field before the Big 12 game against UCF at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024.It wouldn’t be surprising if the first reaction of many BYU football fans to the 2025 football schedule which was released Tuesday morning was some disappointment.
Why can’t the Big 12 put arguably the biggest rivalry in the conference at the end of the season where it belongs?
It’s not happening this fall.
The Cougars are slotted to host Utah on Oct. 18 for its Homecoming game, which feels like way too early in the year for those two teams to meet. It was the norm when BYU was independent and the Utes were in the Pac 12, but when in the same conference this game should be played after Thanksgiving.
It’s a common theme for the entire league, however, which is head-scratching. The only rivalry matchup at the end of the year is Arizona playing at Arizona State, with other rivalries like Kansas State-Kansas (Oct. 25 in Lawrence) and Baylor-TCU (Oct. 18 in Fort Worth) also taking place in October.
BYU also doesn’t look like it’s going to get much help in terms of statement games with its out-of-conference schedule, with no SMU like it beat in 2024.
The Cougars start the season hosting FCS-foe Portland State, then welcomes an ACC opponent in Stanford to Provo. While it is a game against a Power-5 foe, the Cardinal only went 3-9 in 2024 and aren’t expected to be a factor in their conference race.
After a bye week, BYU’s last non-conference game is a road trip to East Carolina, who wasn’t bad last season (8-5) but this is a high-risk, low-reward contest where a win is expected and a loss is a devastating.
The Cougars do have some fun conference matchups, starting with their first trip to Boulder since 1981 for a rematch of the 2024 Alamo Bowl against Colorado on Sept. 27.
BYU will return home to host West Virginia on Oct. 3, then head south to Tucson to play at Arizona on Oct. 11.
After hosting Utah, the Cougars play a pair of what appear to be their tough tests as they will be on the road at Iowa State (Oct. 25) and — after a bye — play in Lubbock, Texas, against Texas Tech.
BYU will wrap up with two of its final three games at home as it hosts TCU on Nov. 15, play at Cincinnati on Nov. 22 and face UCF at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Nov. 29.
It’s hard to gauge how the balanced Big 12 will play out from year-to-year (as evidenced by the awful success rate of the preseason rankings), but based on the results of last fall the Cougars have a pretty balanced schedule.
They don’t face league-champ Arizona State but they play both of the other teams that tied for the title on the road (Colorado and Iowa State).
TCU won nine games and Texas Tech won eight as they tied for fifth with Baylor (who BYU doesn’t face in 2025).
None of the other Cougar conference opponents had winning records, although all won at least four games.
Here are how BYU’s league opponents finished in the 2024 standings:
- Tied for No. 1: Colorado (9-4, 7-2) and Iowa State (11-3, 7-2)
- Tied for No. 5: TCU (9-4, 6-3) and Texas Tech (8-5, 6-3)
- Tied for No. 8: West Virgina (6-7, 5-4)
- Tied for No. 11: Cincinnati (5-7, 3-6)
- Tied for No. 13: Utah (5-7, 2-7), Arizona (4-8, 2-7) and UCF (2-8, 2-7)
Here is the complete release from BYU:
“In conjunction with the Big 12 Conference, BYU announced Tuesday its football schedule for the upcoming 2025 season.
“The Big 12 revealed the 2025 football schedules for all 16 league members, noting that select Saturday games may be adjusted to select Fridays, other special dates, and Black Friday, with game announcements in the coming weeks. Kickoff times and television network designations will be announced later in the year.
“BYU’s 2025 slate includes six home games, beginning with a season opener against Portland State and hosting Stanford at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Other featured home games include the first-ever trip to Provo by the West Virginia Mountaineers in a Friday-night matchup and the season’s annual homecoming game, this time against in-state rival Utah. The Cougars also host TCU and UCF to round out the home schedule.
“The schedule also features six road contests and two bye weeks (Sept. 13 and Nov. 1) for the second consecutive year. The Cougars play on the road at East Carolina, Colorado, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Arizona and Cincinnati.
“Two of BYU’s 2025 opponents finished last year ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 with Iowa State at No. 15 and Colorado at No. 25. TCU received votes in the final poll. Overall, the Cougars will face six teams that played in a bowl game in 2024, including 11-game winner Iowa State, who edged out BYU for a place in conference championship game via tiebreaker rules last season. Along with the Cyclones, BYU’s 2025 opponents coming off of bowl appearances include East Carolina, TCU, West Virginia, Texas Tech and the Cougars’ Alamo Bowl opponent Colorado.
“For the second straight season, the Cougars face 10 power-conference opponents in its 12-game regular season. The nonconference slate for BYU includes FCS opponent Portland State of the Big Sky Conference, Stanford from the Atlantic Coast Conference and East Carolina out of American Athletic Conference.
“BYU will play nine conference games in the Big 12, with five on the road and four at LaVell Edwards Stadium in 2025. Only four opponents repeat on the league slate from last season, including bowl opponent Colorado this time as a regular-season matchup. BYU also gets repeat games against Arizona, UCF and Utah.
“Big 12 teams on the schedule that the Cougars didn’t see in 2024 include West Virginia, Iowa State, Texas Tech, TCU and Cincinnati.
“The Cougars will see two teams (Colorado and Iowa State) of the three other programs that shared a first-place tie atop the 2024 standings with BYU at 7-2, and two of the three that finished with the next-best record (6-3) in Big 12 play last season in Texas Tech and TCU. The Cougars face three of those opponents on the road (Colorado, Iowa State and Texas Tech).
“This year, BYU does not face Arizona State, Baylor, Kansas State, Kansas, Houston or Oklahoma State in the regular season.
“The Big 12 Championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“Season ticket renewals begin this spring. 2024 season ticket holders will receive a direct communication via email with their designated date and time to renew and purchase 2025 tickets.
“Fans interested in purchasing tickets in 2025 who were not a season ticket holder in 2024 should fill out the BYU Season Tickets Interest Form.”