Fall in Provo has a rhythm, and a big part of it is blue. When the leaves start turning on the Wasatch and the student wards fill back up, LaVell Edwards Stadium becomes the loudest place in Utah County on a Saturday afternoon. The 2026 season marks BYU's fourth year in the Big 12 — and this year's schedule is one of the more interesting the Cougars have drawn, headlined by a home date with Notre Dame that Provo hasn't seen in more than two decades.
Here's the full slate, a look at every home game, and what to keep in mind as you plan your fall Saturdays.
The Full 2026 Schedule
BYU plays a 12-game regular season built on a 13-week calendar, with a single bye. Nine of those games are Big 12 contests; the other three are non-conference. Dates are as released by the conference. Times are a separate question, and the table below answers it honestly: four of the twelve are locked, eight are not. One date has already moved off Saturday — Iowa State, now a Friday night game — so the "could still shift" caveat is not hypothetical.
All times are Mountain, the local clock. This matters more than it sounds: the Big 12 publishes many times in Central, and a game listed at 2:30 starts at 1:30 here.
| Date | Opponent | Location | Kickoff (MT) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Sept. 5 | Utah Tech | Provo (home) | 6:00 p.m. | ESPN+ |
| Sat, Sept. 12 | Arizona | Provo (home) | 1:30 p.m. | FOX |
| Sat, Sept. 19 | Colorado State | Fort Collins (away) | 5:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Sat, Sept. 26 | Bye week | — | — | — |
| Sat, Oct. 3 | TCU | Fort Worth (away) | TBA | TBA |
| Fri, Oct. 9 | Iowa State | Provo (home) | 8:15 p.m. | ESPN |
| Sat, Oct. 17 | Notre Dame | Provo (home) | TBA | TBA |
| Sat, Oct. 24 | UCF | Orlando (away) | TBA | TBA |
| Sat, Oct. 31 | Arizona State | Provo (home) | TBA | TBA |
| Sat, Nov. 7 | Utah | Salt Lake City (away) | TBA | TBA |
| Sat, Nov. 14 | Baylor | Provo (home) | TBA | TBA |
| Sat, Nov. 21 | Kansas | Lawrence (away) | TBA | TBA |
| Sat, Nov. 28 | Cincinnati | Provo (home) | TBA | TBA |
The bye lands early — three games in — which means once BYU returns from Fort Collins, it plays nine straight weeks to close the regular season. That's a demanding stretch with no built-in break, a quirk of the season starting in September rather than late August.
How the remaining eight times get set. The conference's media package runs through ESPN, FOX and TNT Sports, and those partners select kickoff windows in waves rather than all at once — typically on about twelve days' notice, sometimes as little as six. That is why the September games have clocks and the November games do not, and it is not disorganization: the later a window is held open, the better the matchup can be slotted against the rest of the national schedule. The practical consequence for anyone planning a Saturday is simple. If the game is more than two weeks out, the time does not exist yet, and any site showing you one is guessing.
If the Cougars finish among the top two in the Big 12, they'd advance to the conference championship game on Friday, December 4, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The Home Slate: Seven Saturdays at LaVell Edwards Stadium
Seven home games is a full season for a fan who wants to be in the building. Here's how the home calendar breaks down.
Utah Tech — Saturday, Sept. 5, 6 p.m. MDT on ESPN+ (Home Opener). The season begins with an in-state tune-up against Utah Tech, an FCS program out of St. George that's moving into the Big Sky Conference this year. On paper it's a comfortable opener, which makes it a good one to bring first-timers to — the atmosphere of a home opener with a manageable crowd for parking and logistics. If you've never done a game at LaVell Edwards, this is the low-stress way in.
The 6 p.m. start is worth planning around rather than glancing at. It is an evening game, not an afternoon one, which means the tailgate lot opening at 8 a.m. sits a full ten hours before kickoff, the stadium empties near ten o'clock into a Saturday night, and September in Provo is warm at six and cool by the fourth quarter. Bring a layer you would not bring to a one o'clock game.
Arizona — Saturday, Sept. 12, 1:30 p.m. MDT on FOX. BYU opens Big 12 play earlier than it ever has, hosting Arizona in just the second week. The Cougars edged the Wildcats in double overtime on the road in 2025, and this is the third year running that the two have met in conference play. Both teams could be ranked when they kick off, which makes an early-season home game feel a lot bigger than a Week 2 usually does.
Iowa State — Friday, Oct. 9, 8:15 p.m. MDT on ESPN. Note the day: this one moved off Saturday and was selected as a featured Friday-night game — the only true night game on the home schedule. A Friday kickoff changes the whole plan — traffic, tailgating windows, and parking all shift from the usual Saturday routine, and downtown Provo tends to feel it. Worth circling on the calendar now so it doesn't sneak up on you.
Notre Dame — Saturday, Oct. 17. This is the one, and visiting supporters making the trip should start with our Big 12 fan's guide to Provo. Notre Dame makes its first trip to LaVell Edwards Stadium since 2004, giving BYU its highest-profile home game in years and, arguably, its best chance to make a national statement in front of a home crowd. Demand will be intense — if there's a single game this season where you want to sort tickets and parking well in advance, it's this one. Expect the neighborhoods around campus to be packed hours before kickoff.
Arizona State — Saturday, Oct. 31. A Halloween date with the Sun Devils, the first meeting between these two since a memorable 2024 game that carried Big 12 championship stakes. Costumes in the student section are a near-certainty.
Baylor — Saturday, Nov. 14. Baylor returns to Provo for the first time since 2022, when BYU won a double-overtime thriller. Mid-November football on the bench means layers — evenings at the base of the mountains cool off fast this time of year.
Cincinnati — Saturday, Nov. 28 (Home Finale). BYU closes the regular season at home against Cincinnati, the weekend after Thanksgiving. A late-November finale can mean cold and possibly snow, so dress for it — but a home closer with playoff or bowl positioning on the line is exactly the kind of Saturday that makes the season.
The Road Games
Five away trips round out the schedule, and a couple stand out for travel-minded fans. BYU visits Colorado State (Sept. 19) for the first time since 2010, heads to TCU (Oct. 3) on a date that overlaps with the Saturday sessions of October's General Conference, plays at UCF in Orlando (Oct. 24), and travels to Kansas (Nov. 21) still looking for its first win over the Jayhawks since joining the Big 12.
The rivalry game at Utah (Nov. 7) is the road trip most Cougar fans care about. For the third year in a row it sits in the middle of the schedule rather than closing it out, and Rice-Eccles Stadium is never an easy place for BYU to play. It's a short enough drive up I-15 that plenty of Provo fans make the trip regardless of ticket difficulty.
What to Expect on the Field
Kalani Sitake is back for another season on the sideline, and the Cougars carry momentum from a 2025 campaign that ended on a high note with a bowl win over Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The schedule is again loaded with power-conference opponents — the kind of slate that can build a résumé quickly if things break right, or punish a young team that isn't ready for the week-to-week grind of the Big 12.
For the details that matter most on the field — depth, the quarterback picture, and how the Cougars stack up in a deep conference — the local beat writers at outlets like the Deseret News and the Daily Herald track every practice and roster move through fall camp. What's certain from where we sit in July is the shape of the season: a soft opener, an early Big 12 test against Arizona, the Notre Dame showcase in the middle, and a brutal, bye-free run to the finish.
Planning Your Game Days
A few practical notes as you map out the fall:
- Get tickets early for the big ones. Notre Dame (Oct. 17) and, to a lesser degree, Arizona (Sept. 12) and the pursuit of a strong home finish will be the hardest tickets. Season tickets remain the most economical route for locals who want to be there every week; single games are available through tickets.byu.edu and secondary markets.
- Mind the Friday game. The Iowa State game on Friday, Oct. 9 breaks the usual Saturday pattern — plan tailgating, parking, and dinner reservations around a weeknight rather than a weekend.
- Dress for the season you're in. September games can be genuinely hot; November games can be cold and even snowy. The back half of the schedule calls for layers.
- Arrive early. Parking around campus fills up fast, especially for marquee games. Giving yourself extra time is the difference between catching kickoff and missing the first quarter — our parking and traffic survival guide breaks down which lots are free, which are paid, and when each one realistically runs out.
New to game day in Provo? Our BYU football game day guide covers tickets, parking, tailgating, and the whole routine, and our guide to where to eat before and after a BYU game sorts out the pre- and post-game meal. When single-game details firm up, you'll find the home opener and other dates on our Provo events calendar.
Cougar football is one of the things that makes fall in Provo feel like fall in Provo. Seven Saturdays, one Friday night, and a visit from Notre Dame — it's a season worth planning around.
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