The 2020 Big 12 Conference football season is the 25th season of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

football taking place during the

2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 151st season of college football games in the United States. Organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision ...

. The season began on September 3 with non-conference play. Conference play began on September 19, 2020. The entire schedule was released on October 21, 2019. The 2020 season will be the ninth season for the Big 12 since the early 2010s conference realignment brought the Big 12 membership to its current form. As a ten-team league, the Big 12 was scheduled to play a nine-game round-robin conference schedule and each member playing three non-conference games, one of which must be against a Power Five conference foe, however, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, all power five conference games were canceled, and each team will only play one non-conference game. The regular season will be followed by a conference championship game between the regular-season champion and the regular season runner-up. The 2020 Big 12 Championship Game was played at

AT&T Stadium AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable roof, retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. I ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, on December 19, 2020, and ended with Oklahoma claiming their sixth Big 12 title in a row by defeating the Iowa State Cyclones, 27–21.

Background

Previous season

In the 2019 season,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

defeated Baylor 27–20 in overtime in the conference championship. Six teams were invited to bowl games in the 2019 season, and the conference went 1–5 in those games. Oklahoma earned the #4 seed in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

, but fell to

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

28–63 in the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

Preseason

Big 12 media days

The 2020 Big 12 media days will be held on July 21–22 in

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Its population was 200,509 at the 2 ...

Preseason poll

The preseason poll will be released in mid-July 2020.

Preseason awards

2019 Preseason All-Big 12 *Offensive Player of the Year: Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State *Defensive Player of the Year:

Darius Stills Darius Stills (born May 1, 1998) is an American football defensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football at West Virginia. Early years Stills attended Fairmont Senior High School in Fairmont, West Virginia. During his career, ...

, West Virginia *Newcomer of the Year:

Spencer Rattler Spencer Michael Rattler (born September 28, 2000) is an American football quarterback who plays college football for South Carolina. Rattler began his college career with Oklahoma before transferring to South Carolina in 2021. High school car ...

, Oklahoma

Head coaches

There was only one head coaching change in the conference following the conclusion of the 2019 season. On January 7, 2020, Baylor Bears coach

Matt Rhule Matthew Kenneth Rhule (born January 31, 1975) is an American football coach and former player, who is the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was previously the head coach at Temple University, Baylor University, and for the Carolina Pant ...

was hired as the new coach of the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) after three years at the school. He was replaced by Dave Aranda on January 20, 2020.

Schedule

The regular season will begin on September 12, 2020 and will end on December 5, 2020. The season will conclude with the 2020 Big 12 Championship Game on December 19, 2020. The schedule is subject to changes due to the

. Changes may include cancellation of individual games, cancellation of non-conference games, games played without fans in attendance, or the cancellation of the entire season. Multiple conferences have already canceled portions of or the entire season. As of August 8, 2020, fourteen non-conference games involving a Big 12 team have been canceled due to the pandemic. The Big 12 announced on August 3 that all teams will play 10 games, 9 conference games and 1 non-conference game. on August 12, the revised schedule was released

Regular season

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine

Week Ten

Week Eleven

Week Twelve

Week Thirteen

Week Fourteen

Championship Game

Rankings

Postseason

Bowl games

The Big 12 Conference earned two spots in the New Years Six with both participants in the Big 12 Championship earning a spot. The Big 12 has accomplished this for the third straight year. Rankings are from CFP rankings. All times Central Time Zone. Big 12 teams shown in bold.

Records against other conferences

Regular Season Post Season

Big 12 vs other conferences

Big 12 vs Power 5 matchups

This is a list of the

Power Five conferences The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA D ...

teams (

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

, Notre Dame,

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

and SEC). Due to the

, The Big 12 had eleven scheduled games against Power Five conferences, however, each one was canceled. All of the other

initially announced that they would go on with their season as scheduled, but with cuts to non-conference games, The

, and SEC were all limiting play to in-conference games only. The

and Big 12 are allowing one non-conference game. The Big Ten and Pac 12 have postponed fall sports due to COVID-19 concerns.

Big 12 vs Group of Five matchups

The following games include Big 12 teams competing against teams from The American,

C-USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

, MAC,

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — des ...

. On August 8, the MAC announced the postponement of all fall sports for the 2020 season, including football. On August 10, the Mountain West followed the MAC as the second Group of Five conference to postpone fall sports indefinitely. On August 10,

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

announced it was the delaying the start of it season until September 26.

Big 12 vs FBS independents matchups

The following games include Big 12 teams competing against FBS Independents which include

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

and UMass. UConn, announced that they would opt out of the 2020 season. UMass announced that they would opt of playing fall football and hopes to construct a season in spring 2021. New Mexico State announced that they would opt out of playing fall football and try to play in spring 2021.

Big 12 vs FCS matchups

The

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

comprises 13 conferences and two independent programs. All conferences and teams have postponed their fall conference schedules, The

Big South The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

, (James Madison, Elon, Villanova from the

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

SoCon The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly kn ...

, and

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

are allowing the option of playing out-of-conference games only

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Offensive Player of the Week S13 Sam Ehlinger, UT, QB, Sr. S20 Tylan Wallace, OSU, WR, Sr. S27 Skylar Thompson, K-State, QB, Sr. Sam Ehlinger, UT, QB, Sr. O5 Breece Hall, ISU, RB, So. O12 T.J. Pledger, OU, RB, Jr. O19 Leddie Brown, WVU, RB, Jr. O26 Breece Hall, ISU, RB, So. Marvin Mims, OU, WR, Fr. N2 Rhamondre Stevenson, OU, RB, Sr. Tylan Wallace, OSU, WR, Sr. N9 Breece Hall, RB, ISU, So. N16 T.J. Simmons, WVU, WR, Sr. N23 Spencer Rattler, OU, QB, R-Fr. N30 Charlie Brewer, BU, QB, Sr. D7 Brock Purdy, ISU, QB, Jr. D14 Dillon Stoner, OSU, WR, Sr. Defensive Player of the Week S13 Krishon Merriweather, TTU, LB, Jr. S20 Malcolm Rodriguez, OSU, LB, Sr. S27 JaQuan Bailey, ISU, DE, R-Sr. Jahron McPherson, K-State, DB, Sr. O5 La’Kendrick Van Zandt, TCU, S, Jr. Darius Stills, WVU, DL, Sr. O12 AJ Parker, K-State, DB, Sr. O19 Josh Chandler-Semedo, WVU, LB, Jr. O26 Terrel Bernard, BU, LB, Jr. N2 Joseph Ossai, UT, LB, Jr. N9 Mike Rose, ISU, LB, Jr. N16 Tykee Smith, WVU, SPEAR, So. N23 Ronnie Perkins, OU, DE, Jr. N30 Latrell Bankston, ISU, DL, Jr. D7 Amen Ogbongbemiga, OSU, LB, R-Sr. D14 C.J. Caesar II, TCU, CB, So.

Home game attendance

Bold – exceeded capacity
† Season high
‡ Record stadium Attendance

NFL draft

The following list includes all Big 12 players who were drafted in the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

References

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