When the Big 12 dropped its 2026 football schedule Wednesday morning, one detail stood out for BYU - and it’s not about a rivalry game or a marquee matchup. It’s about timing.
For nearly two decades, BYU has carefully avoided playing on the first Saturday of October, a weekend that holds unique significance for the university and its fan base. That’s when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - the university’s sponsoring institution - holds its semiannual general conference, a weekend of spiritual addresses broadcast globally. In most years, the Cougars either play earlier in the week or take a bye to avoid any overlap.
But that streak is about to end.
In 2026, BYU is scheduled to travel to Fort Worth to take on TCU on Saturday, October 3 - the opening day of general conference. It marks the first time since 2005 that the Cougars will play a football game on the same day as the event.
That 2005 matchup came in Bronco Mendenhall’s first season as head coach and ended in a 31-10 loss at San Diego State. Even then, the game was scheduled to kick off after the evening session of conference had wrapped up.
So why now?
The answer lies in a recent change to the structure of general conference itself. In November, the Church announced the discontinuation of the Saturday evening session, a move aimed at emphasizing the earlier sessions that day. That change opens up a potential window for BYU to play later in the day without directly overlapping with conference programming - at least in theory.
Still, nothing is set in stone just yet. The kickoff time for BYU-TCU hasn’t been announced, and that decision ultimately lies in the hands of the television networks. So while the absence of a Saturday evening session creates more flexibility, there’s still a chance the Cougars could be scheduled to play during a conference session, depending on how the TV slots shake out.
This scheduling wrinkle breaks a long-standing trend. Since 2006, BYU has played a Thursday or Friday game ahead of general conference weekend 17 times, including every year from 2008 to 2018 and again from 2020 to 2025. The other three seasons - 2007, 2019, and 2024 - featured a bye week before conference weekend.
For fans who plan their fall weekends around both football and faith, this year’s schedule presents a rare overlap - and a potential challenge. But for BYU, it’s also a sign of the evolving landscape of college football scheduling, especially in a Power Five conference where TV contracts and competitive balance often take priority.
Whether the game kicks off in the afternoon or under the lights, the Cougars are heading to Fort Worth on October 3. And for the first time in 21 years, they’ll be doing it on general conference Saturday.