Report: UConn men’s basketball to host Baylor in Big East-Big 12 Battle

The matchups for the Big East-Big 12 Battle are set, college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported Tuesday, and UConn will host a showdown with Baylor.

Rothstein reported Tuesday morning that the Huskies are also finalizing a home-and-home series with Texas. Dates and times for both games have not been revealed.

UConn has only played Baylor once, a 96-88 win back on Dec. 28, 1965, but the programs have been among the best in college basketball for the last several years. Baylor finished the 2023-24 season with a 24-11 record, earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament – its fourth top three seed in the last four years – and was ousted by No. 6 Clemson in the second round.

The Huskies are 1-1 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle in their dominant two-year run, beating Oklahoma State at Gampel Pavilion 74-64 in 2022-23 and losing at Kansas on Dec. 1 before winning their second consecutive national championship. The loss in Kansas’ historic Phog Allen Fieldhouse was UConn’s only loss to a nonconference opponent in 34 games over the last two seasons, including a perfect 12-0 in the NCAA Tournament.

Rothstein also previously reported that the Big East-Big 12 Battle, which began during the 2019-20 season, will not continue after 2024-25.

Here are the matchups as reported. Dates, times and broadcast information is TBA:

Baylor at UConn; Kansas at Creighton; Butler at Houston; Marquette at Iowa State
Kansas State at St. John’s; Xavier at TCU

Also Cincinnati at Villanova; BYU at Providence; Oklahoma State at Seton Hall; Georgetown at West Virginia; DePaul at Texas Tech