Big 12 announces 2026 football weekday selections after Cody Campbell, Brett Yormark public feud

The Big 12, along with its TV partners at ESPN and FOX, released its nine-game weekday slate of conference football games for the upcoming 2026 season on Friday. And, despite some recent public pushback from Texas Tech billionaire booster Cody Campbell, the Red Raiders are heavily involved.

In fact, Texas Tech is one of five Big 12 teams with multiple weekday games, joining Houston, Iowa State, TCU and UCF with two apiece. Despite Campbell’s public opposition, the Red Raiders and Cougars open Big 12 Conference play on Friday, Sept. 18, a game that was moved up a day as part of the league’s initiative to add more weekday games to better optimize the TV viewing audience. Texas Tech will also play rival TCU on Thanksgiving Day, or Thursday, Nov. 26.

Check out the Big 12’s full slate of weekday games below:

2026 Big 12 Football Weekday Games

Friday, Sept. 11 — Missouri at Kansas
Friday, Sept. 18 — Houston at Texas Tech
Friday, Oct. 9 — Iowa State at BYU
Friday, Oct. 30 — Baylor at UCF
Friday, Nov. 6 — TCU at Arizona
Friday, Nov. 13 — Houston at Colorado
Friday, Nov. 20 — Iowa State at UCF
Thursday, Nov. 26 — TCU at Texas Tech
Friday, Nov. 27 — West Virginia at Utah

Cody Campbell, Big 12 boss Brett Yormark engage in public spat over conference scheduling

Campbell, who also serves as chair of the Texas Tech Board of Regents, publicly blasted Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark last week after exposing the conference’s plan to move the Red Raiders’ Big 12 opener against Houston from Saturday to Friday, Sept. 18, in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

Campbell’s complaint was two-fold: such a move would both put Texas Tech at a disadvantage of having to play a pivotal conference game on short rest, as well as the inherent conflict with Friday night high school football games in the area, which is the lifeblood of Texas athletics, especially in West Texas.

Yormark responded April 1 by telling the Avalanche-Journal that “Cody Campbell does not run the Big 12.”

“Our Board and our ADs approved playing 12 games a year off of Saturdays in an effort to raise the profile, narrative, and viewership of Big 12 Football,”  Yormark told the Avalanche-Journal last Wednesday. “Texas Tech hosting a primetime game on Friday night delivers that.”

The war-of-words continued last Thursday when Campbell issued a statement to ESPN’s Dave Wilson, reminding the Big 12 boss who he ultimately serves: “As commissioner, he needs to remember that he works for the Presidents, and the Presidents work for the Boards. He is not the dictator of the conference. That’s not his role. It is his responsibility to advocate for his members in all cases.”

Campbell then re-addressed his complaint with the Big 12’s thinking regarding Texas Tech’s Week 3 game in a detailed post on April 3. Campbell’s four-point clarification reinforces the importance of high school Friday Night Lights in Texas, and the inherent disadvantage a Friday game would have for both the Red Raiders team working on short rest and Tech’s Dallas-based alumni base.

Not that any of Campbell’s concerns ultimately inhibited the Big 12’s decision to move the game.