Now that Oklahoma's non-conference schedule has finally been released, all of the Big 12 football schedules have been finalized and we can start the ridiculously early evaluation process.
We'll start with the Big 12's top non-con games for this upcoming season.
1. Oklahoma vs. Notre Dame- Going through the possible candidates for the top spot, this game was a no-brainer. Two of the all-time most prestigious football programs in college football, the Golden Domers will travel to Norman for the first of a two game home-and-home set. Both teams look to have their respective issues heading into the season, so the marque-ness of this match up may yet to be determined, but on name recognition alone it's worthy of the number one spot.
2. Kansas State vs. Miami- The Fightin' Synders won a shocker (at the time) down in Miami last year and now the Hurricanes travel up to the Little Apple to try and exact some revenge. Credit to Bill Snyder for not buying his way out of this game which you know he really, really, really, really, really, really, really wanted to.
3. Iowa State @ Iowa - The annual in-state showdown that spawned that atrocious CyHawk Trophy could be a surprisingly entertaining affair this year. I think CC might have been on that ISU bandwagon just a couple of years too early as I think they could be a real dark horse in the Big 12 this season.
4. TCU vs. Virginia- UVA surprised a lot of people last year in the ACC and will bring another solid team to Fort Worth early this season. I'm not sure however whether they'll be bringing any hydroponic marijuana, but I think TCU might have that covered (or at least they did until today).
5. West Virginia vs. Maryland- Under Armour University just landed a big time recruit and will be looking to make significant improvement in their second year under Randy Edsall. WVU on the other hand will be likely be looking to stay undefeated before they head into their first year of Big 12 Conference play.
Other possible candidates - Tulsa @ Iowa St., OSU @ Arizona, Texas @ Ole Miss