Big 12 releases early-season details for Baylor football schedule

WACO, Texas (KXXV) — The Big 12 Conference announced Thursday that game times and television details have been finalized for two of Baylor football’s first three matchups of the 2025 season.

Baylor will kick off the season at home against Auburn on Thursday, August 29, with a 7 p.m. kickoff on FOX at McLane Stadium. This marks the first meeting between the two programs since 1976, with Baylor leading the all-time series 2-1-1.

In Week 2, the Bears travel to face SMU at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on September 6. Game time and broadcast information for the matchup are still to be announced. SMU enters the season following a College Football Playoff appearance and will make its ACC debut in 2025.

The Bears return to McLane Stadium on September 13 for their final non-conference game, hosting Samford at 11 a.m. That game will stream live on ESPN+. Baylor is 2-0 all-time against Samford, with both prior meetings held in Waco (2002 and 2005).

Baylor is one of only two programs in the nation set to face 11 Power Five opponents in 2025. The Bears will play a nine-game Big 12 schedule, featuring home contests against Arizona State, Kansas State, UCF, Utah, and Houston, as well as road games at Oklahoma State, TCU, Cincinnati, and Arizona.

The Bears are coming off a strong 2024 campaign in which they won their final six regular-season games, setting a new program record for consecutive regular-season victories and finishing with eight wins overall.

The team returns a wealth of talent, including senior quarterback Sawyer Robertson, senior wide receiver Josh Cameron, sophomore running back Bryson Washington, and junior linebacker Keaton Thomas.

Robertson enters his second season as the starting quarterback after throwing for 3,071 yards, 28 touchdowns, and just eight interceptions, while adding 230 rushing yards and four scores on the ground.

Cameron has been a consistent playmaker, recording 52 receptions for 754 yards and 10 touchdowns over the last two seasons. He also led the nation in punt return average (20.7) late into the season, forcing opposing teams to avoid kicking to him. He holds the program record for career punt return average (18.18).

Washington earned freshman All-America honors from both the Football Writers Association of America and The Athletic after rushing for over 1,000 yards and scoring 12 touchdowns in just 11 games. He set the program record for rushing yards by a freshman and logged six 100-yard games.

Thomas emerged as a national standout at linebacker, tallying 114 tackles across 13 games—four of which featured double-digit tackle totals—despite playing much of the season with a cast on his hand. He was named First-Team All-Big 12.

In addition, Baylor returns four starters on an offensive line that ranked sixth nationally in efficiency, along with key defenders including defensive lineman Jackie Marshall, safety Devyn Bobby, and cornerback Caden Jenkins, a 2023 Freshman All-American.

Overall, Baylor returns 84.8% of its rushing production, 90.4% of its passing yards, and 62.9% of its receiving yards from last season, which was the first under offensive coordinator Jake Spavital.