For months the Oklahoma State Cowboys have known their Big 12 opener against West Virginia would be on FS1. Now, they know the game time.

The Cowboys (1-1) will face the Mountaineers (2-0) at 6 p.m. central time on Sept. 26 on FS1. It’s a prime-time showdown set for the Cowboys just two days after they upset the Oregon Ducks, 39-31.

Conference game times are usually not set until the week before the game is played. What happened on Saturday is part of the reason why networks wait.

Complete Week 4 Big 12 Schedule

Here is the complete schedule for Week 4 of the college football season, including all games involving Big 12 teams (all times central):

Colorado at Baylor – 11 am, ESPN or ESPN2

SHSU at Texas Tech – 11 am, TNT/HBO Max

Houston at GA Southern - 2:30/3pm, ESPN2/U

TCU at UCF - 2:30 pm, FS1

Utah at Iowa State - 2:30 pm, FOX

K-State at Cincinnati – 6 pm, ESPN2

OK State at West Virginia – 6 pm, FS1

Arizona at Washington State - 6:30 pm, CBS/Para+

For FS1, the goal was simple. It wanted to get the best possible game it could into its prime-time window. There are four TV windows on Saturdays (central time) — 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

If you’re looking to showcase your program after a big win, then the prime-time window is the one you’re hoping for. The only bad luck here for Oklahoma State is that the network designation was already decided a few months ago. Had those been more fluid, it’s possible ESPN would have landed that game.

ESPN and Fox are the primary rightsholders for the Big 12 and they get priority in game choices. Games that end up on TNT are sub-licensed by ESPN. The CBS game between Arizona and Washington State is because WSU’s contract is with the network and it’s a home non-conference game.

This is some validation for the Cowboys after the win over Oregon. It’s possible that if OSU was 0-2 going into this week that the game could have ended up in the earlier window (2:30 p.m. where the TCU-UCF game resides, also on FS1. Big 12 fans are getting treated to a doubleheader. OSU fans get to watch the Cowboys’ Oct. 10 opponent as an appetizer to their Big 12 opener.

After Week 4, the network designations are much more fluid and it’s possible the Cowboys could land a game in an ESPN window in Week 6 when they host UCF. A win helps OSU in that regard.

After the exciting win over Oregon, FS1 clearly valued having the Cowboys in the later window. With a win, they can validate that faith and build on that by claiming the sort of window that Colorado-Baylor (ESPN) and Utah-Iowa State (Fox) have that week.