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Each of the league’s 16 teams now only have room to play three other teams twice, and parameters such as geography, traditional rivalries, television executives’ preferences and competitive balance are putting a squeeze on the decision-making process.

“We’re trying to put all those things into a pot and stir it up and come up with a reasonable set of matchups that give all of our institutions an opportunity to be successful,” said Brian Thornton, the Big 12’s VP for men’s basketball, during the league’s spring meetings in Orlando, Fla. “But also (it’s about) creating made-for-TV opportunities that our TV partners really want to see as well.”

Arizona’s case appears especially acute. Thornton said in March that UA would continue to play ASU twice, since historical rivals would be preserved, but that leaves the Wildcats with just two other double-play spots open… that media partners might want to see against marquee teams such as Kansas, Houston, BYU or Texas Tech.

Already, the fact that Arizona faced Kansas just once during the regular season in 2024-25 created a stir. Asked before last season about why the Wildcats and Jayhawks weren’t paired twice during what was a 20-game schedule, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said the league would study the issue.

“That’s a marquee matchup, as we all know, and one the fans want to see,” Yormark said.

Media partners might also prefer a 2025-26 Big 12 inventory that includes two UA-Houston games — the Wildcats faced Texas Tech and BYU twice last season, so those matchups won’t likely be doubled again in 2025-26 — but that could also make the Wildcats’ schedule tougher than other Big 12 teams.

Thornton said the conference is a week or 10 days away from deciding the schedule pairings, though the full schedule of dates and television assignments likely won’t happen until late summer.

The only thing that’s certain now is that teams will get two weeklong periods of just one game. Since coaches did not want to move any conference games before Christmas — as the Pac-12 did and as the Big Ten does now — the only way to play the entire conference schedule after Christmas was by cutting to 18 games or by playing twice every week to reach 20 games as in 2024-25.

“The schedule got very compressed,” Thornton said. “And when you’re playing in a league as challenging as ours, understandably, our coaches wanted a little bit of an opportunity during the course of conference to take a deep breath. Going to 18 games allows that. It allows us to have a built-in bye, and it’s something that we feel is important for the time being.”

But one other problem with playing just 18 games is it gives Big 12 coaches two more games for the nonconference schedule that they may or may not fill with competitive opponents. That risks a hit to the conference’s collective strength of schedule ratings if they schedule too lightly.

Thornton said coaches spent a “considerable amount of time” on Wednesday discussing the issue, but expressed confidence that coaches would schedule strategically.

“What our conference does during the nonconference scheduling time is really what sets the stage for how strong our conference is going to be overall,” Thornton said. “The quality games that we schedule, the success that we have during that time, will set the stage for if we’re viewed as the No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 conference in the country as we go down the stretch, headed to March Madness. Our coaches are very committed to that process.”

For its part, Arizona has arranged nonconference games with Florida, UCLA, Auburn, UConn, Alabama and San Diego State.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson also appeared to be on board. During a conference interview session that was open to media on Zoom, Sampson said the Big 12 had to keep up competitively, noting that the SEC had 14 NCAA Tournament teams while the Big 12 had seven.

The competition has burned particularly hot off the court this spring. The pending House settlement – and its condition that future NIL deals beyond $600 be audited to ensure they don’t exceed market value – has spurred a furious transfer-portal season in which top players raced to sign what are now sometimes seven-figure deals.

“The biggest thing on campus is making sure everybody’s alive — we’re able to do this amount, we commit doing this amount, because our biggest competitors are doing this amount,” Sampson said. “If we’re going to do this, we have to be all in. The great thing about the Big 12 is the history of our conference says that we have passionate fan bases that expect our teams to be competitive.

“Things are different. The meeting we just had, we talked about so many different things. It’s hard not to think about where we’re going to be in five years. How can we be proactive and keep our league moving forward?”