OU Volleyball Unveils 2023 Big 12 Schedule

NORMAN – The Big 12 Conference announced Oklahoma's 2023 league schedule Tuesday, the first under new Sooners head coach Aaron Mansfield.

Even with Big 12 expanding to 14 schools (13 volleyball programs) for the 2022-23 school year with the addition of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, OU's 2023 conference slate will again feature 18 matches. The Sooners will face six teams twice each in two-match series (Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas and UCF) and the other six teams once each (Baylor, BYU, Kansas, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia). The two-match series will occur at the same site in consecutive days. The team(s) with the highest winning percentage at the end of the regular season will be crowned Big 12 champion.

OU's conference schedule is once again expected to be among the toughest in the country, as the Big 12 finished the 2022 regular season with the highest RPI of any league. Eight of the Sooners' 12 Big 12 opponents advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season: Baylor (25-7), BYU (22-7), Houston (30-4), Iowa State (20-12), Kansas (19-11), TCU (17-11), Texas (28-1) and UCF (28-2). Texas won the national championship in 2022, while Baylor reached the Sweet 16. Five of OU's opponents also finished in the top 25 of the 2022 AVCA Coaches Poll: No. 1 Texas, No. 15 Baylor, No. 17 Houston, No. 18 BYU and No. 22 UCF. Houston and UCF shared the American Athletic Conference title.

"We are excited to take on what will be an extremely competitive Big 12 Conference schedule this fall," Mansfield said. "Our team has put in a ton of intentional work this spring and it has been extremely rewarding for our players to experience so much growth in such a short period of time. We have set a really solid foundation as to what we all want our team to be about, and how we want to play the game. I can't wait to start competing with this group."

Oklahoma will kick off conference play at McCasland Field House in Norman against Texas on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 22-23. The Sooners will then trek to the Sunshine State to face new Big 12 opponent UCF on Thursday-Friday, Sept. 28-29. It will be OU's first meeting against the Golden Knights since 1981 and first vs. UCF in Orlando since 1979.

For the first time since 1996, the Sooners will welcome BYU to Norman on Saturday, Oct. 7. The Sooners will stay at home to host TCU for a mid-week match four days later before traveling to Lawrence, Kan., to face the Jayhawks on Saturday, Oct. 14.

Oklahoma will return to McCasland for a family affair the following week as OU hosts Kansas State on Thursday-Friday, Oct. 19-20. Mansfield's brother, Jason, is in his first year as the Wildcats head coach.

OU's next two matches will be on the road as it travels to Iowa State for matches on Friday-Saturday, Oct. 27-28, and then to Waco, Texas, for a single match against Baylor on Wednesday, Nov. 1. The Sooners return home to host Houston for the third time in program history on Thursday-Friday, Nov. 9-10. The last time the Cougars were in Norman was for the Oklahoma Invitational in August 2021.

The Sooners travel to Cincinnati for their last series matchup of the season on Thursday-Friday, Nov. 9-10, before completing their road slate in Lubbock, Texas, against Texas Tech on Wednesday, Nov. 22.

OU closes its regular season schedule at home against West Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 25.

Oklahoma's non-conference slate and season ticket deposit information will be announced at a later date. Start times and TV information will be added to the SoonerSports.com schedule page as they become available.

Date	Opponent	Location	Time (All times CT)
Friday, Sept. 22	TEXAS	MCCASLAND FIELD HOUSE	6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 23	TEXAS	MCCASLAND FIELD HOUSE	6 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 28	at UCF	Orlando, Fla.	7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 29	at UCF	Orlando, Fla.	7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 7	BYU	MCCASLAND FIELD HOUSE	2 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 11	TCU	MCCASLAND FIELD HOUSE	6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 14	at Kansas	Lawrence, Kan.	1 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 19	KANSAS STATE	MCCASLAND FIELD HOUSE	6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 20	KANSAS STATE	MCCASLAND FIELD HOUSE	6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 27	at Iowa State	Ames, Iowa	6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 28	at Iowa State	Ames, Iowa	4 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 1	at Baylor	Waco, Texas	7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 9	HOUSTON	MCCASLAND FIELD HOUSE	6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 10	HOUSTON	MCCASLAND FIELD HOUSE	6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 17	at Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 18	at Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	6 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 22	at Texas Tech	Lubbock, Texas	2 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 25	WEST VIRGINIA	MCCASLAND FIELD HOUSE	1 p.m.