By Scott Dochterman, Sam Khan Jr., Chris Vannini, Max Olson and Justin Williams

The Big 12 released its full 2023 football schedule Tuesday, its first as a 14-team conference. Here’s what you need to know:

• The Big 12 expanded from 10 to 14 teams for the 2023 season with the additions of former AAC schools Cincinnati, Houston and UCF as well as independent BYU. Teams will continue to play nine conference games each without divisions.
• Newcomers Houston and Cincinnati will play five Big 12 home games each. Oklahoma and Texas got four each with their neutral Red River rivalry clash set for Oct. 7 in Dallas.
• National championship finalist TCU will kick off Big 12 play at Houston on Sep. 16. The Horned Frogs play Deion Sanders’ Colorado in Week 1.
• Reigning Big 12 champion Kansas State opens conference play at home against UCF on Sep. 23.

The moment you have all been waiting for since September 10, 2021…

Introducing the 2023 #Big12FB Schedule

🗓️ https://t.co/JXIqy2hBYK pic.twitter.com/myhFjT9K2v

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) January 31, 2023

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Texas in-state rivalries

Texas will face all four in-state Big 12 opponents this fall, traveling to Baylor, TCU and Houston while playing host against Texas Tech in the regular-season finale. The Longhorns also face Rice in a non-conference game to open the season. All six teams competed in the Southwest Conference until it dissolved following the 1995 campaign.

The Longhorns could meet Baylor for the final time as conference foes on Sept. 23 in Waco. The programs have met annually since 1922 except when the Bears didn’t field a program in 1943 and 1944 because of World War II. Texas leads the series 80-28-4.

Houston’s travel plans are completely different from its previous conference stops after the Southwest Conference dissolved. The Cougars play their first seven games inside Texas and travel just twice outside the state: Oct. 28 at Kansas State and Nov. 25 at UCF. All three of Houston’s non-conference opponents are Texas teams, and it faces the four other Big 12 teams from Texas. — Dochterman 

2023 may be the closest we get to an SWC reunion w/the new Big 12 sked

Texas faces: Rice, Baylor, UH, TCU, TTU
TCU faces: UH, SMU, TTU, UT, Baylor
Texas Tech faces: UH, Baylor, TCU, UT
Baylor faces: UT, TTU, UH, TCU
Houston faces: Rice, TCU, TTU, UT, Baylor

#LongLiveTheSWC

— Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr) January 31, 2023

Sooners’ potential final schedule

The Big 12 provided Oklahoma with a difficult final schedule, should the Sooners leave for the SEC after this season. All four of OU’s road opponents (five if you count the neutral showdown against Texas in Dallas) competed in bowl games last year. The Sooners are Cincinnati’s first Big 12 home opponent on Sept. 23 and travel to BYU on Nov. 16 while heading to Stillwater on Nov. 4.

Oklahoma’s other trip is against longtime border opponent Kansas, which first faced the Sooners in 1903, four years before Oklahoma became a state. The Jayhawks won the first eight meetings but trail the Sooners 80-27-6 all-time. Oklahoma won last year’s game 52-42 in a shootout.

Oklahoma is slated to play at Oklahoma State on Nov. 4, perhaps the final time the longtime rivals meet as conference foes. The Sooners lead the Bedlam series 91-19-7, tied for the most wins by a Power 5 program over an opponent; Nebraska leads Kansas 91-23-4. The 72-game disparity also is tied for the most by a Power 5 program over another; the Sooners lead Iowa State 79-7-2. Oklahoma plays host to the Cyclones on Sept. 30. — Dochterman

What’s on tap for the reigning champs?

Reigning Big 12 champion Kansas State plays three of its first four at home, with the lone road contest in September going to Missouri. The Wildcats will see two of the four Big 12 newcomers, hosting both: UCF travels to the Little Apple on Sept. 23 for the teams’ respective Big 12 openers and K-State hosts Houston on Oct. 28.

Kansas State and TCU will meet on Oct. 21 in Manhattan, Kan., for their Big 12 championship rematch. The teams split their two matchups last year with K-State winning the conference title game. The Wildcats’ annual Sunflower Showdown rivalry with Kansas is in the season’s penultimate week, Nov. 18 in Lawrence. — Khan

TCU’s intriguing 2023 slate

Coming off its first College Football Playoff appearance, TCU has an intriguing 2023 slate. The Horned Frogs host Colorado in their opener, travel to Big 12 newcomer Houston in Week 3 for their conference opener followed by their annual Iron Skillet rivalry with SMU at home in Week 4.

After having a September off week last year — which led to TCU playing 11 consecutive weeks including the Big 12 title game — the Horned Frogs get a breather on Oct. 28. It’s the latest open date TCU has had since 2015. Following the off week, TCU’s finishing stretch — at Texas Tech on a Thursday night, hosting Texas and Baylor and at Oklahoma on Black Friday — is challenging. — Khan 

Rivalry week

The Big 12 didn’t lean into Rivalry Week to close the season. Only Texas-Texas Tech and Kansas State-Iowa State are considered rivals on that final Week 13. Bedlam between Oklahoma and OK State (possibly the last one) is in Week 10, while the penultimate Week 12 features Kansas-Kansas State, Cincinnati-West Virginia and TCU-Baylor. — Vannini

How will conference matchups work?

The Big 12 has played round-robin conference schedules since 2011. That won’t be the case going forward. In the 2023 season, each Big 12 team will play nine conference games and won’t get to play four teams in the league. Oklahoma State, for example, will not face four of the five Texas schools — Baylor, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech — during their regular-season schedule.

Cincinnati ended up with arguably the easiest Big 12 schedule from this standpoint. The Bearcats aren’t scheduled to play TCU, Kansas State, Texas or Texas Tech. Those four teams combined for 39 wins in 2022. Houston ended up with arguably the toughest draw for its first season in the Big 12 and won’t play BYU, Oklahoma, Kansas or Iowa State. — Olson

No more round-robin Big 12 schedules going forward. Here are the 4 games each Big 12 team DOESN’T play in 2023. pic.twitter.com/vMNhO9qxcY

— Max Olson (@max_olson) January 31, 2023

Which newcomers have the best chance to succeed?

Of the four newcomers, BYU is arguably the most equipped for the step-up in schedule, considering the Cougars are accustomed to playing against a handful of power-conference opponents each season with an independent schedule.

The three additions from the AAC, however, have likely faced two power-conference foes at most during the regular season. How Cincinnati, Houston and UCF in particular handle the elevated levels of talent and depth on a weekly basis down the stretch will be a significant adjustment for each program, and something to keep an eye on in the back half of the conference slate.

All four of the schools have recruited P5-caliber players and knocked off P5 opponents in recent years, but that challenge will look (and feel) much different in 2023.

Cincinnati’s first Big 12 slate is about as favorable as the program could have hoped for from a competitive standpoint. The Bearcats get five conference home games and only go on the road in back-to-back weeks once all season: at Houston on Nov. 11 and at West Virginia on Nov. 18.

Cincinnati plays all three of its fellow Big 12 newcomers — the only of the four to claim that distinction — and has only one non-Saturday game, traveling to BYU on Fri., Sept. 29, with an idle week the following Saturday. UC also gets Oklahoma at home to open conference play and avoids Texas, Kansas State and TCU in 2023.

Bearcats fans are certainly looking forward to the marquee matchups that come with a P5 schedule, and the opponents they do face this fall will be plenty tough. But for a program taking a step up in competition and ushering in a new head coach, any breaks Cincinnati can claim in Year 1 will be welcome ones. — Williams

Full Big 12 schedule

Required reading

(Photo: Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today)