Baylor’s 2026-27 non-conference schedule has a little bit of everything: a three-game home start, a rivalry reset in San Antonio, a trip back to Las Vegas and a late-December road test in Seattle.
The Bears announced a 14-game non-conference slate that features eight home games and a return to the Players Era Sixteen at T-Mobile Arena. It also includes a neutral-site meeting with Texas at the San Antonio Hoops Showdown, where Baylor and the Longhorns will play for the 264th time and for the first time since 2024.
Baylor opens the season at Foster Pavilion with its first three games. The Bears begin Monday, Nov. 2, against Northwestern State at 8:30 p.m.
CT, then host Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday, Nov. 6, and Yale on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
The Yale game carries an extra wrinkle: it comes against the former school of transfer Isaac Celiscar.
The first road trip arrives on Sunday, Nov. 15, when Baylor faces Texas at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. That matchup restores one of college basketball’s most-played rivalries, with the two in-state programs meeting again after last playing in 2024.
Baylor is back home three days later for Jackson State on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 11 a.m. CT, the program’s annual Future Bears Day. The Bears have been undefeated over the past five years in Future Bears Day games.
Then comes the Las Vegas stretch. Baylor opens the 2026 Players Era Sixteen against Alabama on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 9 p.m.
CT. Two days later, on Thursday, Nov. 26, the Bears will face either Gonzaga or Kansas State depending on bracket results.
Baylor’s next game is set for Friday, Nov. 27, against an opponent to be determined from a field that includes Creighton, Miami (Fla.), Michigan and TCU. If the Bears win their first three games, they would move on to the championship game on Saturday, Nov.
After the tournament, Baylor returns to Waco for a pair of December home dates. Memphis comes to town on Saturday, Dec. 5, in the second meeting of a four-year series between the schools.
It will be the Tigers’ first trip to Waco since 1977. Queens follows on Wednesday, Dec.
The Bears then break for finals before heading to Seattle on Saturday, Dec. 19, for their first true road game and the final game of a two-game series with Washington. Baylor beat the Huskies 78-69 in Waco in 2025.
The calendar closes with two more home games: College of the Ozarks on Monday, Dec. 21, and Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday, Dec. 29.
Baylor also has a neutral-site game against Louisville lined up for the second straight season after last year’s meeting in Fort Worth. The date and site will be announced later.
The non-conference schedule ends before the Big 12 Championship, which is set for March 9-13 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Baylor’s full 2026-27 schedule, including Big 12 dates and times, will be released later this fall.
The conference pairings were announced in June. Baylor’s home-and-home opponents are Colorado, Kansas and UCF. The other home games will be against Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and West Virginia, while road trips are set for Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, TCU, Texas Tech and Utah.
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