The Utes now know when — and where — they’re playing conference games in 2026 after the Big 12 released this year’s football schedule Wednesday morning.
After going 11-2 (7-2 in Big 12 play) in its second year in the Big 12 Conference, the Utes now know their path for 2026.
Notably, the Utes don’t play Big 12 champion Texas Tech this season and also miss Arizona State in Morgan Scalley’s first year as head coach.
The Utes will welcome an SEC team — Arkansas — to Rice-Eccles Stadium on Sept. 12 as part of a three-game homestand to open the season.
The game to circle on the conference schedule is BYU, which made its first trip to the Big 12 championship game last year. This year’s rivalry game is once again not on the last week of the season, as has been the case since Utah joined the Big 12, and will be played on Nov. 7.
Here are three takeaways from Utah’s 2026 football schedule.
Utah misses two notable teams on this year’s schedule
Texas Tech won its first-ever Big 12 title in 2025, and with plenty of oil money backing them, the Red Raiders proved they are the conference’s NIL kings with their transfer portal moves.
After another successful offseason, including landing Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, the Red Raiders rank No. 14 in 247Sports’ transfer and recruit rankings for 2026.
Texas Tech finally got over the hump, and its donors are trying to make sure that the Red Raiders stay at the top of the Big 12 for years to come. Texas Tech has the schedule to repeat, too. The Red Raiders didn’t have any trouble with BYU or Utah last year, but missing the two Beehive State schools in 2026 can only be considered a positive.
For Utah, which lost 34-10 to Texas Tech last season, the absence of the Red Raiders is a welcome sight, and gives the Utes an easier path to the Big 12 championship game.
The Utes also avoid Arizona State in 2026.
The Sun Devils were bit by the injury bug — the loss of quarterback Sam Leavitt was a big blow — and finished 8-5. With Leavitt heading to LSU this season, it’s tough to tell how good the Sun Devils will be with Kentucky transfer quarterback Cutter Boley, but it’s never wise to bet against a Kenny Dillingham-led team.
The Big 12 always produces surprise teams that make a schedule tougher than originally thought, but avoiding the preseason favorite in Texas Tech is a positive for Utah.
Just one bye week this season — and it’s early
In each of Utah’s past two seasons in the Big 12, the team has enjoyed two bye weeks as a result of starting the season in late August.
This year, the Utes kick off the 2026 campaign on Thursday, Sept. 3 against Idaho, and as a result, Utah has just one bye this year.
Last season, Utah’s off weeks came on Oct. 4 and Nov. 8, while the Utes had byes on Oct. 5 and Nov. 2 in 2024. Those bye weeks were timed well, giving Utah a break in the latter parts of the season.
This year, Utah’s sole bye week lands on Oct. 3. It’s not the worst-timed bye week ever, as it gives the team a chance to rest up and regroup after its first Big 12 game — a road trip to Ames, Iowa, to take on Iowa State — but a November off week would have been more ideal.
The toughest stretch for the Utes in 2026
November should be the make-or-break month for the Utes in 2026.
Utah’s toughest opponent in the first two months of the season is likely Houston, which finished 10-3 with a win over LSU in the Texas Bowl, and the Utes get the Cougars at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The competition heats up in November, however, with a challenging three-game stretch.
First up is the rivalry game against BYU, which Utah hosts at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Nov. 7. The Cougars have a three-game win streak over the Utes, and while BYU loses defensive coordinator Jay Hill, it retained nearly all of its players this offseason.
Quarterback Bear Bachmeier returns, as does running back LJ Martin. Defensively, nearly every player of note returns, despite Hill leaving to join Kyle Whittingham’s staff at Michigan.
How good will the Cougars’ defense be under new coordinator Kelly Poppinga? That is to be determined, but with a stable of returning starters, BYU could challenge for a Big 12 title.
Like it did last season, the Utah-BYU game could have a major impact on the Big 12 title race, which makes it puzzling that the rivalry matchup is not on the final week of the season. Last year’s matchup could have been one of the most consequential final-week games of the season, but instead, Utah played Kansas and BYU played UCF in the final week.
The Big 12’s argument is that it wants the Utah-BYU game to stand alone instead of going up against rivalries like Michigan-Ohio State, but putting it on the last week of the season would only up the stakes and emotion, especially if there’s a Big 12 title berth on the line.
Following BYU, Utah hits the road to play Arizona. The week after a rivalry game is always tough, and Utah being on the road in Tucson makes the contest that much harder.
All-Big 12 first-team quarterback Noah Fifita is back to lead Arizona, which caught fire at the end of the season, winning five straight games with wins over Cincinnati and Arizona State before losing 24-19 to SMU in a bowl game that featured some opt-outs.
The Wildcats could be a tough out at home.
From there, Utah travels to Fort Worth for its only back-to-back road trip of the season.
TCU is ranked No. 20 in ESPN’s “way-too-early” top 25, and though the Horned Frogs lose quarterback Josh Hoover to Indiana, TCU is optimistic that Harvard signal-caller Jaden Craig will be able to lead the new-look offense called by coordinator Gordon Sammis.
Aside from the BYU game, this could end up being the Utes’ toughest challenge.
That three-game stretch — BYU, Arizona and TCU — could define Utah’s 2026 season.
