The Fieldhouse is bathed in crimson and blue light during the player introductions prior to tipoff against Eastern Illinois on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

The Big 12 Conference announced full conference schedules on Thursday for the new-look 16-team league.

The Kansas men’s and women’s basketball teams will both begin playing league games before the start of the new year — in the women’s case, as early as Dec. 21.

Men’s basketball has an earlier start because it has expanded the Big 12 schedule to 20 games, with KU facing five teams twice each and 10 teams once apiece; the women’s schedule still consists of 18 league games with three teams played twice and 12 played once, though its Big 12 tournament begins earlier.

Here’s more information on the route each team will take as it spends its winter battling for position in the expanded conference.

Men’s basketball

As the Jayhawks look to return to their championship heights of three seasons ago, they will embark on a longer league campaign than ever before, one that will take them to some new and unusual destinations.

But first, KU opens at home against West Virginia on Dec. 31, then travels back to the site of an upset loss last season, UCF, on Jan. 5.

The Jayhawks will host new conference foe Arizona State on Jan. 8 before hitting the road for Cincinnati and Iowa State four days apart (Jan. 11 and Jan. 15), then returning home for the first installment of the Sunflower Showdown (Jan. 18).

Then comes a trip to Fort Worth, Texas, where KU didn’t go during the 2023-24 campaign, to take on TCU (Jan. 22), before a marquee weekend home game against Houston (Jan. 25) and a rematch with UCF (Jan. 28).

The Jayhawks will open the month of February at Baylor (Feb. 1) and then welcome Iowa State back to Allen Fieldhouse for Big Monday (Feb. 3). Next up is a quick-turnaround second matchup with Kansas State (Feb. 8) and a welcome back to the Big 12 for Colorado (Feb. 11).

The following week brings an interesting structure as the Jayhawks play back-to-back games in the state of Utah against the Utes (Feb. 15) and, three days later, BYU (Feb. 18); they play one home game against new-look Oklahoma State (Feb. 22) before heading back to Mountain Time in short order to face Colorado (Feb. 24).

The final stretch of conference play features a series of marquee matchups: at home against Texas Tech (March 1), at Houston on Big Monday (March 3) and at home against Arizona (March 8).

The Jayhawks will field a team that combines returning experience in the form of KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson and Dajuan Harris Jr. with highly touted transfers like Rylan Griffen, Zeke Mayo and AJ Storr as they look to make a deeper run through the tournament following back-to-back second-round exits.

KU will play an exhibition at Arkansas on Oct. 25, and its season begins in earnest against Howard on Nov. 4.

Here is the full Big 12 schedule:

Dec. 31 (Tues.) – vs. West Virginia

Jan. 5 (Sun.) – at UCF

Jan. 8 (Wed.) – vs. Arizona State

Jan. 11 (Sat.) – at Cincinnati

Jan. 15 (Wed.) – at Iowa State

Jan. 18 (Sat.) – vs. Kansas State

Jan. 22 (Wed.) – at TCU

Jan. 25 (Sat.) – vs. Houston

Jan. 28 (Tues.) – vs. UCF

Feb. 1 (Sat.) – at Baylor

Feb. 3 (Mon.) – vs. Iowa State

Feb. 8 (Sat.) – at Kansas State

Feb. 11 (Tues.) – vs. Colorado

Feb. 15 (Sat.) – at Utah

Feb. 18 (Tues.) – at BYU

Feb. 22 (Sat.) – vs. Oklahoma State

Feb. 24 (Mon.) – at Colorado

March 1 (Sat.) – vs. Texas Tech

March 3 (Mon.) – at Houston

March 8 (Sat.) – vs. Arizona

Women’s basketball

The Jayhawks will bring their new-look roster to the floor for the first time in conference play when KU hosts Baylor at Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 21.

The matchup against the Bears produced one of the Jayhawks’ most memorable victories of the 2023-24 season, a 21-point win for KU during a period when Baylor was the No. 4 team in the country. The Bears did get a slight measure of revenge when they halted KU’s momentum in the reverse fixture late in the season; however, this year the contest in Lawrence will be the only contest between the two teams. The three schools KU faces twice are Iowa State, Kansas State and Oklahoma State.

After the opener, the Jayhawks have a holiday hiatus before traveling to Hilton Coliseum to take on ISU (Jan. 1) and Gallagher-Iba Arena to face OSU (Jan. 4). They then play three of their next four at Allen Fieldhouse (TCU on Jan. 7, Arizona State on Jan. 16, Arizona on Jan. 19) with one game at newcomer Colorado in between (Jan. 11)

From there, KU hits the road again for Utah (Jan. 22) and Houston (Jan. 25) before a pair of challenging home games against rival Kansas State on Feb. 2 and West Virginia, which won at Allen Fieldhouse last year, on Feb. 5.

The schedule continues with the Jayhawks’ first ever road game at Cincinnati (Feb. 8), followed by a rematch against Iowa State (Feb. 8) and a chance to welcome UCF to Lawrence (Feb. 18).

KU then reprises some its most exciting matchups from last season at Kansas State again (Feb. 22) and BYU (Feb. 25) before senior day against OSU (March 2).

This year’s team lost much of the veteran experience from last season but has used the transfer portal to bring in players like wings Elle Evans and Jordan Webster to complement returning guards S’Mya Nichols and Wyvette Mayberry, with a variety of candidates for extended time in the post to replace Taiyanna Jackson.

KU opens its season with an exhibition against Washburn on Nov. 1 before hosting Lindenwood five days later.

Here is the full Big 12 schedule:

Dec. 21 (Sat.) — vs. Baylor

Jan. 1 (Wed.) — at Iowa State

Jan. 4 (Sat.) — at Oklahoma State

Jan. 7 (Tue.) — vs. TCU

Jan. 11 (Sat.) — at Colorado

Jan. 16 (Thu.) — vs. Arizona State

Jan. 19 (Sun.) — vs. Arizona

Jan. 22 (Wed.) — at Utah

Jan. 25 (Sat.) — at Houston

Jan. 29 (Wed.) — at Texas Tech

Feb. 2 (Sun.) — vs. Kansas State

Feb. 5 (Wed.) — at West Virginia

Feb. 8 (Sat.) — at Cincinnati

Feb. 15 (Sat.) — vs. Iowa State

Feb. 18 (Tue.) — vs. UCF

Feb. 22 (Sat.) — at Kansas State

Feb. 25 (Tue.) — at BYU

March 2 (Sun.) — vs. Oklahoma State