Iowa State football's 2023 schedule is set as Big 12 releases league slate
Conference realignment means a radically new schedule for the Iowa State football team to navigate in 2023.
The Big 12 Conference released schedules Tuesday. The Cyclones will face two of the conference's newcomers, including one with a familiar face at offensive coordinator. And Iowa State will host national runner-up TCU on the weekend that the school will honor the 100th anniversary of program icon Jack Trice's death.
Iowa State will open the Big 12 season at home on Sept. 23 against Oklahoma State.
Tuesday's schedule release was significantly delayed from its usual timeline as the Big 12 tried to navigate its new 14-team setup. The league is welcoming Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and Central Florida into the fold while Oklahoma and Texas remain until their departure to the SEC in the coming years.
More:Mailbag: Where does Iowa State football go in a pivotal offseason?
Iowa State will play at Cincinnati on Oct. 14. The Bearcats hired former Cyclone offensive coordinator Tom Manning, a longtime close confidant to Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, after he was fired this offseason. The Cyclones will also travel to Provo, Utah, to face BYU on Nov. 11.
The realignment means the round-robin schedule the conference has employed since going to 10 teams in 2012 had to be jettisoned in favor of a slate that will leave teams without matchups against four league opponents.
Iowa State will not play Central Florida, Houston, West Virginia or Texas Tech, barring any title game matchups. The Cyclones will get conference defectors Oklahoma on the road (Sept. 30) and Texas at home (Nov. 18). Games against close regional rivals Kansas (Nov. 4; Homecoming) and Kansas State (Nov. 25 on the road) were preserved. Iowa State will play at Baylor on Oct. 28.
The Cyclones' non-conference portion of the schedule was previously released, with home games against Northern Iowa (Sept. 2), Iowa (Sept. 9) and a road game at Ohio (Sept. 16) on the docket.
Oct. 21 is a bye week for Iowa State.
More:Iowa State names former UNI OC Ryan Clanton as offensive line coach
It is a critical season for Iowa State after it went 4-8 overall and 1-8 in the Big 12 while sporting one of the country's least productive offenses. That resulted in a near-total overhaul of the offensive staff with Manning, offensive line coach Jeff Myers and quarterbacks coach Joel Gordon all departing.
Campbell elevated wide receivers and running backs coach Nate Scheelhaase to coordinator with the goal of unlocking an offense that averaged just 20.2 points per game a year ago.
2023 Iowa State football schedule
Sept. 2 – UNI
Sept. 9 – Iowa
Sept. 16 – at Ohio
Sept. 23 – Oklahoma State
Sept. 30 – at Oklahoma
Oct. 7 – TCU (Jack Trice Legacy Game)
Oct. 14 – at Cincinnati
Oct. 28 – at Baylor
Nov. 4 – Kansas (Homecoming)
Nov. 11 – at BYU
Nov. 18 – Texas
Nov. 25 – at Kansas State
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football releases 2023 schedule
