A look at the Big 12 teams the Runnin’ Utes will face in Alex Jensen’s 1st season

Keanu Dawes of Utah drives to the hoop. | KSL.com. SALT LAKE CITY (KSL.com) — A day after solidifying an entirely rebuilt roster, the Runnin’ Utes got their first look at the Big 12 slate for 2025-26 in Alex Jensen’s first season as the program’s head coach. The Big 12 changed from a 20-game conference slate to an 18-game version that will feature three home-and-home series against conference opponents, including in-state rival BYU, Arizona State and Colorado. That bodes well for the teams in the west who can limit travel to the east coast in a conference that stretches from each mainland time zone in the country. The home schedule for the Runnin’ Utes includes Arizona, Iowa State, TCU, Houston, UCF and Oklahoma State. The Utes will also travel to Cincinnati, West Virginia, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Baylor in a difficult test in Jensen’s first season. Official dates for the games, including Utah’s nonconference schedule, will be released on a later date. The offseason has been busy for Utah as Jensen hired a new staff and compiled a roster with only two scholarship holdovers from last season’s roster. On Wednesday, Jensen completed the roster with the addition of German freshman guard Jacob Patrick. Keanu Dawes, who briefly entered the transfer portal after the 2024-25 season, is the only returning starter for the Utes. He also became the first-ever athlete at Utah to sign a revenue-sharing contract with the university after the recent settlement of the House v. NCAA case that allows athletic departments to pay athletes. Utah’s full roster can be viewed here. Utah women’s basketball The men weren’t alone in learning their conference opponents on Thursday morning. The Utah women, who also underwent some change with a graduating roster and the loss of star guard Gianna Kneepkens, will also play an 18-game Big 12 slate. The Utes will play home-and-home games against in-state rival BYU, Arizona and Arizona State in Gavin Petersen’s first full season as the team’s coach a year after a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament. Utah will host Baylor, Cincinnati, Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia at home, with it being the first-ever visit to the Huntsman Center for Baylor and West Virginia. The Utes will travel to Colorado, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and UCF. Though a younger roster for Petersen this season, he’ll look to continue Utah’s streak in the NCAA Tournament with a potential fourth straight season opportunity.The post A look at the Big 12 teams the Runnin’ Utes will face in Alex Jensen’s 1st season appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com