A scheduling shake-up in the ACC has sent shockwaves across conferences, leaving Kalani Sitake’s BYU Cougars in a precarious position. The new regulation changes to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) schedule cause consequences to other conference teams. Reports suggest that an ACC program canceled its pre-agreed-upon game, leaving the Cougars searching for answers. 

The ACC updated its conference scheduling regulations on Wednesday, December 16, under which 12 of the 17 teams will play nine conference games, while the remaining teams will play eight conference games. The California Golden Bears ended up with a nine-game conference football schedule, which led Cal to cancel their pre-agreed non-conference game against BYU.

This will free up a date for them on the scheduling charts for the conference matchup, as the Golden Bears also agreed to host the UCLA Bruins to kick off their 2026 slate.

Reports reveal that California will not owe a cancellation fee for backing out of the series. But as per their cancellation clause of the original contract, either team may cancel the games without penalty if there is “a change to the number of nonconference games that either party’s conference allows.”

With roughly nine months left for the 2026 campaign, Kalani Sitake’s BYU is in desperate need of a new opponent. If you think finding an opponent is a piece of cake, the real problem begins there.

According to the Big 12 Conference scheduling regulations, each member of the conference must play a non-conference Power-Four opponent. That would give all Big 12 teams ten games against Power Four opponents in a given season, boosting their strength of schedule.

The Golden Bears met the requirements for the next two seasons, but the cancellation prompted BYU to seek another Power Five non-conference opponent.

Unfortunately, every SEC and Big Ten team has already set its schedule for next year, and that includes the scheduled date (September 12). If BYU needs to schedule a power conference opponent for its schedule, it will need to alter its schedule to a different week. However, the Cougars are not in a position to negotiate a last-minute change for their 2026 campaign.

This isn’t the first time a conference realignment has left a team in the lurch. In 2023, the Pac-12 conference experienced a mass exodus as eight of its 12 members departed for the Big Ten and Big 12. With media rights contracts coming into play, it left the two remaining schools, Oregon State and Washington State, without a conference home for the future.

As of now, BYU has only two non-conference games scheduled for 2026, hosting Utah Tech on September 5 and visiting Fort Collins to play Colorado State two weeks later.

Kalani Sitake’s lone option to meet the Big 12 regulations

Kalani Sitake is left with limited options to meet the Big 12’s scheduling regulations. BYU can strike a deal with another non-conference Power-Four team, which they have already scheduled for their future schedule. They have Boston College scheduled for 2028 and 2029. BYU also agreed to host Virginia Tech in 2030 and Michigan State in 2032, which they could reschedule to the 2026 schedule.

If not, there’s still a way.

It’s worth noting that few schools have scheduled byes on September 12, the actual date, when the Cal match-up was supposed to happen. That includes Alabama; however, the problem is that their non-conference slate is already full. The Florida Gators are set to host FCS Campbell, which could be easily bought out, and South Carolina is in a similar position.

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Northwestern will open the 2026 season on September 12 against South Dakota State, which can be rescheduled upon mutual agreement.

However, BYU has no time and must fill its non-conference Power-4 matchup for 2026, unless the Big 12 scheduling rules grant an exception to the Cougars for their upcoming season.