The Big 12 Conference has released their 2012 football schedule on Tuesday.

The release was pending the approval of the league's Directors of Athletics, but everything went through fine.

This is the first schedule to include Big 12 newcomers TCU and West Virginia, so the highly anticipated release has fans, players and coaches ready for action.

As in the past, the schedule is a 10-team, nine-game, round-robin style with dates and times subject to change to help with commitments to television partners. With TV selections coming by July 1, this will remain fluid until everything is finalized shortly after.

Week Baylor Iowa State Kansas Kansas State Oklahoma
Sept. 15  bye  bye TCU  bye  bye
Sept. 22  bye  bye  bye at Oklahoma Kansas State
Sept. 29 at West Virginia Texas Tech  bye  bye  bye
Oct. 6  bye at TCU at Kansas State Kansas at Texas Tech
Oct.13 TCU Kansas State Oklahoma State at Iowa State vs. Texas *
Oct. 20 at Texas at Oklahoma State at Oklahoma at West Virginia Kansas
Oct. 27 at Iowa State Baylor Texas Texas Tech  bye
Nov. 3 Kansas Oklahoma at Baylor Oklahoma State at Iowa State
Nov. 10 at Oklahoma at Texas at Texas Tech at TCU Baylor
Nov. 17 Kansas State at Kansas Iowa State at Baylor at West Virginia
Nov. 24 vs. Texas Tech ^ West Virginia  bye  bye Oklahoma State
Dec. 1 Oklahoma State  bye at West Virginia Texas at TCU
 
 
Week Oklahoma State TCU Texas Texas Tech West Virginia
Sept. 15  bye at Kansas  bye  bye  bye
Sept. 22  bye  bye  bye  bye  bye
Sept. 29 Texas  bye at Oklahoma State at Iowa State Baylor
Oct. 6  bye Iowa State West Virginia Oklahoma at Texas
Oct. 13 at Kansas at Baylor vs. Oklahoma * West Virginia at Texas Tech
Oct. 20 Iowa State Texas Tech Baylor at TCU Kansas State
Oct. 27 TCU at Oklahoma State at Kansas at Kansas State  bye
Nov. 3 at Kansas State at West Virginia at Texas Tech Texas TCU
Nov. 10 West Virginia Kansas State Iowa State Kansas at Oklahoma State
Nov. 17 Texas Tech  bye  bye at Oklahoma State Oklahoma
Nov. 24 at Oklahoma at Texas TCU vs. Baylor ^ at Iowa State
Dec. 1 at Baylor Oklahoma at Kansas State  bye Kansas

* Game played at Cotton Bowl Stadium; Dallas, Texas
^ Game Played at Cowboys Stadium; Arlington, Texas

 

What It Means

Is the Big 12 Schedule as Tough as the SEC's now?

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This is an exciting day for the Big 12 because this schedule looks as tough as almost anything the SEC—let alone any other conference—could come up with.

With the added talent from West Virginia and TCU making the road tougher for every program, the likelihood of a Big 12 team making the BCS National Title game this year has increased greatly.

This is also good for all of the college football fans and Big 12 fans that are missing college football. They can have a small taste of the fun in the dead of winter. That’s always a plus.

 

 What Happens Next

Everyone who loves college football will have their eyes all over this schedule, but the most important eyes will be the head coaches of the Big 12.

While the odds makers and Top-25 list builders get out there pencils and start roughing out preseason No. 1's, the coaches of the Big 12 realize the added talent in West Virginia and TCU just made their conference one of the toughest is the nation.

Add those teams to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State and all the rest and you have a serious threat to the SEC supremacy over college football.

 

Check back for more on the NCAA Football as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s College Football Page to get your fill of College Football.