The Big 12 Schedule was finally released Tuesday, ending a two-month odyssey for fans wanting to get UH’s first-ever Big 12 schedule. It will be Houston’s first seven-game home schedule since 2015.
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9/2/2023 |  | TDECU | |
| 9/9/2023 |  | Rice Stadium | |
| 9/16/2023 |  | TDECU |  |
| 9/23/2023 |  | TDECU | |
| 9/30/2023 |  | Lubbock | |
| 10/12/2023 |  | TDECU | |
| 10/21/2023 |  | TDECU | |
| 10/28/2023 |  | Manhattan | |
| 11/4/2023 |  | Waco | |
| 11/11/2023 |  | TDECU | |
| 11/18/2023 |  | TDECU | |
| 11/25/2023 |  | Orlando | |
The Big 12 planned to release the 2023 and 2024 schedules together but it is now apparent that Texas and OU will likely leave for the SEC after the 2023 season. Therefore, the conference did not mention the 2024 schedule in its release.
After a home game with UTSA to start the season, UH goes to Rice before finally debuting in the Big 12 in a home game vs. TCU on September 16th. The Cougars host SHSU the next week, meaning the first four games are in Houston.
The following week, the Cougars travel to Lubbock for their first road game in the league. Will Donovan Smith be the Houston quarterback returning to face his former team? Going to Tech before an off week is potentially a huge trap game.
It will also be the first time UH goes to Lubbock in back-to-back years.
Following the off week, ESPN comes to town for the headline they’ve wanted: Dana Holgorsen vs. West Virginia as the Thursday night game. This is another first: UH’s first meeting with WVU. After playing 4-5 non-Saturday games a year for the last 15 years, the game with the Mountaineers will be UH’s only weeknight game.
The hoopla around Dana’s first meeting against his old team comes with a small bonus: two extra days to prepare for Texas.
The Texas game will be the biggest in TDECU history, eclipsing the 2015 AAC title game and Louisville in 2016. UT and OU will play the first weekend in October this year instead of the traditional second weekend.
WVU and UT are the second of three two-game home stands in 2023.
The grind continues on 10/28 when UH heads to Manhattan, Kansas, for the first-ever meeting with the Kansas State Wildcats. UH’s first-ever football coach, John Bender, gave both the Wildcats and the Cougars their nicknames.
UH travels to Waco the next week, the first game with the Bears since the breakup of the Southwest Conference. Baylor and UH put together a last-minute agreement to face each other during the pandemic, but Baylor canceled the day before the game was scheduled.
Houston hosts Cincinnati on 11/11 and then Oklahoma State on the 18th before finishing the season in Orlando with UCF.
The Coogs get a favorable home/away split in year one and get the prize fans have wanted since 2001: the Texas Longhorns on the UH campus. Playing 10 games in the state is massive – UH only leaves Texas for Manhattan and Orlando.
