The Big 12 Conference announced its full opponent matrix for the 2026‑27 women’s basketball season, outlining a schedule that balances traditional rivalries with fresh challenges. Baylor will host a select group of teams exclusively at home while traveling to face a mix of established and emerging programs across the league.
Rivalries Rekindled and New Frontiers
Baylor’s home slate features a 21‑6 record at Foster Pavilion since its opening in January 2024, underscoring the venue’s role as a fortress. The Bears will meet TCU, Texas Tech and Kansas State on both home and road courts, with the series against TCU marking its 14th meeting in the past 15 seasons and the Texas Tech matchups pushing the all‑time total to 107 games. A home‑and‑away series with Kansas State will also see the teams clash twice in a single season for the first time since 2023.
Under head coach Nicki Collen, Baylor has compiled a 32‑13 record in conference road games, a testament to the team’s resilience away from Waco. The road schedule includes trips to Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Kansas, Houston and UCF, each presenting a distinct narrative. Notably, the Bears will encounter Arizona and Arizona State on the road for the first time under new head coaches, adding a layer of unpredictability to those contests.
The upcoming season also introduces several coaching debuts in hostile environments. Gabe Lazo, in his first year at UCF, will host Baylor in Orlando, while Colorado’s new staff will welcome the Bears to Boulder. These matchups are framed by recent history, such as Baylor’s 3‑0 record against BYU, Utah and Cincinnati at home, where they have averaged a 20‑point margin of victory.
Visiting teams will make their way to Waco, including BYU, Utah, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and West Virginia. All three of those programs finished in the upper half of last season’s standings, and Baylor went 2‑1 against them in 2026. The full conference schedule will be released later, but the announced pairings already promise a blend of historic rivalries and fresh storylines that could shape the league’s landscape.