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Why isn't Arizona vs. Kansas State a Big 12 conference game? Explaining NCAA football's realignment impact | Sporting News

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  Published in Humor and Quirks on Friday, September 12th 2025 at 18:16 GMT by Sporting News
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Why Arizona vs. Kansas State Is Not a Big 12 Conference Game – A Deep Dive into NCAA Football Realignment

The idea of a showdown between the Arizona Wildcats and the Kansas State Wildcats has long sat on the fringe of college‑football conversations. When the two teams met on the gridiron in 2013, it was a non‑conference affair; the Wildcats from the Pac‑12 and the Wildcats from the Big 12 had no official tie‑in that season. In the years since, headlines about conference realignment have grown louder, especially with talks of Arizona potentially joining the Big 12 in 2025. Still, the 2024 season (and the one right before it) does not feature the matchup as a Big 12 conference game. Here’s why.

1. The Big 12’s Current Structure and Scheduling Rules

The Big 12 has 14 member schools in the 2024‑25 season: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCF, West Virginia, Arizona, and Arizona State. While the conference will have more than the 10 teams it had before 2016, its scheduling model remains based on an 8‑game conference slate for each team. The NCAA allows FBS teams to play up to 12 regular‑season games (13 with a conference championship), but each conference is free to set its own internal rules. The Big 12 has chosen to keep its slate at eight games to preserve a balance of competition and to allow each team to schedule four non‑conference games.

Because the conference does not play a round‑robin, it is impossible for every team to face every other team each season. Instead, the conference creates a rotational schedule that determines which teams meet in a given year. In 2024, the Big 12’s official schedule (released in late 2023) lists Kansas State’s conference opponents as Kansas, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, West Virginia, Texas, and Texas A&M. Arizona, meanwhile, will remain in the Pac‑12 for the 2024 season, so the Wildcats’ non‑conference slate will include a mix of traditional rivals, neutral‑site matchups, and at‑home games chosen by the school’s athletic department.

2. Arizona’s Current Conference Status

Arizona’s move to the Big 12 is slated for the 2025‑26 academic year, not the 2024‑25 season. In 2024, the Wildcats are still a Pac‑12 member, and the Pac‑12’s own scheduling logic keeps Arizona from being in the same conference rotation as Kansas State. The Pac‑12 also runs a non‑conference schedule that can include teams from other conferences, but those games are not treated as conference games for either side.

The Wildcats’ 2024 schedule, as revealed in the Pac‑12’s release, features games against Washington, Oregon, Stanford, and Cal as non‑conference opponents, along with traditional rivals Arizona State and New Mexico. There is no indication of a Big 12 opponent on the 2024 slate, reflecting that Arizona has not yet joined the conference.

3. Why the Matchup Isn’t a Big 12 Conference Game

1. Different Conferences – The most straightforward reason: Arizona and Kansas State belong to different conferences in 2024. A conference game can only occur between schools that are members of the same conference. Until Arizona officially joins the Big 12, any meeting would be a non‑conference game.

2. Scheduling Rotations – Even if Arizona had already been a Big 12 member, the conference’s 8‑game rotation could still leave them off Kansas State’s 2024 schedule. The Big 12’s scheduling committee deliberately rotates which teams play each other, ensuring geographic diversity and maintaining historic rivalries. A single game between Arizona and Kansas State would likely surface only in a later season once the rotation aligns.

3. Conference Realignment Timing – The Big 12 announced its expansion plan in 2023, bringing in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State for the 2025‑26 season. This is the first major expansion of the conference in over 20 years. Because of the transitional period, the 2024 scheduling had to operate under the previous conference membership numbers and alignments.

4. NCAA Rules on Conference Membership – The NCAA stipulates that a school’s official conference membership determines the classification of games. Until Arizona’s membership is activated, its games against any Big 12 school remain non‑conference regardless of the opponent’s status.

4. Potential for a Future Conference Game

The Big 12’s expansion creates new match‑ups that were not possible in the past. With 14 teams, the conference can theoretically schedule 8 conference games per team while still leaving room for cross‑conference games. The new addition of Arizona and Arizona State will open possibilities for traditional rivalries, including the possibility that Arizona will face Kansas State as a Big 12 conference game in the 2025‑26 season or later, depending on the rotation.

In addition to the conference rotation, the Big 12 has already announced that it will play non‑conference games with the SEC and other Power Five conferences in certain years, a strategy designed to maintain national relevance and to meet the NCAA’s “10 % of games must be against teams from other Power Five conferences” rule. As the conference continues to grow, its scheduling flexibility will increase, potentially allowing for a conference game between Arizona and Kansas State in a future season.

5. What This Means for Fans

For Arizona fans, the 2024 season will still be a Pac‑12 season. The Wildcats will play their usual conference opponents and a handful of non‑conference foes, but the excitement of a Big 12 matchup is a year away. Kansas State fans, meanwhile, will see their team face the usual mix of Big 12 foes but will have to wait until the 2025‑26 season for an official conference showdown with Arizona.

Should the two teams ever meet in 2024, it will likely be a neutral‑site or non‑conference game. That sort of matchup can still generate significant revenue and media attention. Historically, neutral‑site games have proven lucrative for both schools, and a 2024 Arizona‑vs‑Kansas State game could serve as a showcase for the expanding Big 12 brand. However, such a game would not count toward either team’s conference record.

6. Looking Ahead

The landscape of college football continues to shift. The Big 12’s expansion, the SEC’s growth, and the CFP’s evolving structure mean that fans and analysts must keep a close eye on scheduling announcements. While Arizona and Kansas State are not conference opponents in 2024, the possibility of a future Big 12 game remains high. As the 2025‑26 season approaches and the new members settle into the conference, the 8‑game rotation will likely align to feature the Wildcats from Tucson against the Wildcats from Manhattan.

In the meantime, fans can enjoy the current schedules, anticipate non‑conference showdowns, and prepare for the eventual day when the two programs meet under the Big 12 banner—an event that will undoubtedly energize the entire fan base and mark a new chapter in college football’s ever‑evolving story.