ORLANDO – Highlighted by 10 home contests against teams that have combined for 46 NCAA Tournament appearances over the last 10 seasons, the UCF men’s basketball team and the Big 12 Conference announced its schedule matrix for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season.
The Knights will play 20 conference games this season, as opposed to last season’s slate of 18. The matrix divides UCF’s 15 opponents evenly into thirds, with the Knights hosting five programs in Orlando for home-only matchups, traveling to five teams only on the road and drawing five teams with home and away tilts.
The Black and Gold’s 10 home opponents for the 2024-25 season are BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU and Utah.
Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU and Utah will all be first-time visitors in The City Beautiful.
Last year’s three fellow Big 12 newcomers, BYU, Cincinnati and Houston, will travel to Orlando for the only meeting of the campaign. Kansas State, as well as 2024-25 addition Utah, round out the list of home only opponents.
The Knights will play Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State and TCU twice this season, once at home and then again on the road. UCF will be first-time visitors in Boulder and Lawrence.
The Black and Gold will square off against Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia exclusively on the road, unlocking Tucson, Tempe and Waco as new destinations for the program.
Eight of UCF’s 10 home Big 12 contests are against teams that finished in the top 50 of the NET ranking in 2023-24, including six that finished in the top 25. All five home-only foes made the NCAA Tournament or NIT last season while nine of the 10 total home tilts did the same. Of the 10 home contests, six made last year’s NCAA Tournament and four won a March Madness game. The 10 opponents combine for 281 NCAA Tournament appearances over the teams’ histories, including 46 over the last 10 seasons.
The Knights tallied seven wins during their inaugural conference slate as Big 12 members and picked up an additional victory at the Big 12 Conference Championship. All eight victories came against legacy conference members, including Texas and then-No. 23 Oklahoma, who have since departed for the Southeastern Conference. UCF also triumphed over No. 3 Kansas, No. 23 Texas Tech, West Virginia, Oklahoma State and TCU. The three wins over ranked foes were a first in a single season in program history.
A Big 12 record and nation-high tying eight teams were selected for the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Regular-season titleholder Houston earned a No. 1 seed in its first year in the conference while Iowa State, winner of the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship, was awarded a No. 2 seed. Other participants and seeds were No. 3. Baylor, No. 4. Kansas, No. 6. BYU, No. 6. Texas Tech, No. 7. Texas and No. 9. TCU.
Opponents were selected based on a combination of geography, historical results and a poll of the coaches to best balance the schedule in terms of travel and competitiveness. A full Big 12 schedule will be released at a later date.
The Black and Gold begin the 2024-25 campaign on Nov. 4 as they host Texas A&M in Addition Financial Arena. Tipoff time will be announced at a later date.