Is Rivalry Week Dead?

The Big 12 finally released the 2025 football schedule this week, and fans are pretty fired up. 

The main complaint is that the conference essentially did away with rivalry week. Typically, the biggest and fiercest rivalries across the country are played during the last weekend of the regular season. 

Ohio State-Michigan, Texas-Texas A&M, Auburn-Alabama, etc., traditionally go at it in late November. 

The only true Big 12 rivalry game scheduled for November 29, 2025, is the Territorial Cup between Arizona and Arizona State. There’s no Holy War, no Farmadgeddon, and no TCU-Baylor. 

I completely understand why fans are frustrated. 

The traditionalist in me would kill to turn the clock back to when conferences made sense, and we still had all of the traditional rivalries played during the final week of the season. Let’s get Keith Jackson back on the call for the 2:30 ABC game every Saturday while we’re at it. 

But the toothpaste is already out of the tube. Too much has been destroyed by greedy TV networks and commissioners.

Heck, two of my favorite rivalry week games – Oklahoma State-Oklahoma and Nebraska-Colorado – aren’t even regularly played anymore. 

The reality is that keeping the Holy War out of rivalry week gives it a better chance to stand out nationally. It has a better chance to stand out among the crowd on October 18th than November 29th. 

Rivalry week has a built-in parade of incredible games that are virtually guaranteed to be national draws. It’s hard to compete with Ohio State-Michigan and the Iron Bowl. 

While the Holy War could still be drowned out on October 18th, the Big 12 is at least giving itself a chance to cut through some of the noise, draw more TV viewership, and attract more attention in general. That already happened this past season when the game was played on November 9th (thanks, Mark Harlan). 

The Big 12 can’t do everything traditionally anymore. The SEC and Big Ten can retain more tradition because they have the power and resources to do so. You’re not going to beat them at their own game. It’s a time to be innovative and do things differently to gain an edge. 

Think about the late Mike Leach at Texas Tech. He couldn’t compete with Oklahoma and Texas by running a pro-style offense and going after the same recruits. He used the innovative air raid offense and recruited specifically to that system to get an advantage over the big boys. 

I won’t blindly defend everything the league has done with the football schedule. I would prefer that Texas Tech and Baylor and K-State and Iowa State play each other every year (Tech and Baylor will not see each other in 2025). 

But I understand that Brett Yormark and his crew have to find every possible way to squeeze extra value out of their product–sometimes at the expense of tradition. I’ll cut them some slack as long as they keep nailing the big picture, which they have. 

What You Need to Know

• The Big 12 basketball race is heating up at the top. Arizona got a terrific road win at BYU on Tuesday to stay tied with Houston atop the standings. Texas Tech is one of the country's hottest teams, lurking right behind the Wildcats and Cougars at 9-2. The Red Raiders cruised past Baylor this week, and Bears head coach Scott Drew thinks Tech might be the best team in the league. 

• If you don’t mind staying up past your bedtime, Texas Tech travels to Arizona on Saturday for a 9:30 Central tipoff. It’s a massive game in the league title race. KenPom currently projects a three-point win for the Wildcats and gives Arizona a 60% chance of winning. ESPN is slightly more bullish. 

• Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold announced that quarterback Jalon Daniels had a minor knee procedure and will be limited during spring football. Although injury issues plagued Daniels in 2022 and 2023, he started all 12 games last season for the Jayhawks. 

• It’s been a good Bracketology week for the Big 12. The league now has eight teams projected to make the field after there were only seven last week. Two Big 12 teams are just on the outside looking in and listed among the last four out. 

• Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde writes that the ACC is “better positioned” than the Big 12 after ESPN picked up the option on the ACC’s TV deal through 2036. They certainly have better brands in Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, and Miami, but I’m still not sure he’s correct. I gave my thoughts on my YouTube live show this week. 

• On3’s Ari Wasserman put together a wild list of the Top 25 coaches in college football. His choice for the best coach in the Big 12 will ruffle some feathers. Nothing is more ridiculous than putting Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables in the top 25.

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