Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire is making the case that Texas schools ought to keep their non-conference games close to home.
With the SEC now on a nine-game league schedule and only three non-conference openings, the pressure on those matchups has only grown. The conference also did away with what SEC commissioner Greg Sankey called “cupcake weekend,” the late-season slot once used for non-FBS opponents. That means every non-conference game matters a little more, and McGuire wants those games to mean something in-state.
At Big 12 Football Media Days, McGuire pointed to Texas A&M and others in the Lone Star State, arguing that there’s enough football talent in Texas to avoid leaving the state for marquee non-conference dates.
“If you’re a Texan and you’re a fan of the football in this state, then why would you go outside the state to play non-conference games if we’re not in conference anymore? Because you have such good football in this state,” McGuire asked. “I would love to play Texas, Texas A&M, SMU … I think it’s great for the state of Texas.”
His comments came in the middle of a broader conversation about what college football has become: a sport shaped by realignment, protected scheduling and a growing appetite for games that minimize risk. McGuire’s pitch runs against that grain. He said the top programs in Texas are “supposed to play,” and he suggested that keeping those rivalries alive could even help keep elite recruits from leaving the state.
Texas A&M has already shown what a big non-conference win can do. Last season, the Aggies went into Notre Dame Stadium and beat Notre Dame, a result that helped power a College Football Playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Still, the Aggies’ upcoming non-conference slate doesn’t exactly scream heavyweight gauntlet. Their 2026 schedule includes Missouri State, Arizona State and The Citadel, and all three games are at home, which at least cuts down on travel.
The bigger issue for McGuire is the long list of Texas matchups that have gone dormant. Texas and Texas A&M have revived their rivalry with the Longhorns now in the SEC, but many of the old Southwest Conference battles remain missing. Texas Tech and Texas A&M played every year from 1956 to 2011 before the Aggies left the Big 12 for the SEC and the series stopped.
The same pattern has played out across the state. Texas A&M last played SMU in 2014, Baylor in 2011, TCU in 2001 and Houston in 1995. All four are now in Power Four conferences.
The Aggies did face UTSA in 2025, but that came six years after their previous non-conference FBS games against Texas opponents in 2019, when they played Texas State and UTSA. In that stretch, they also lined up against Sam Houston State, Abilene Christian, Prairie View A&M and Lamar as FCS opponents.
McGuire’s stance may not be the one driving scheduling decisions across the sport, and it may not move the people making them. Texas A&M coach Mike Elko laid out that reality in May at SEC Spring Meetings, saying college football often runs on self-interest rather than the broader health of the game.
“There's a good of college football, where we better be really careful. I don't know why we're trying to become a trophy sport.
I don't understand why that's something that we're trying to do,” Elko said. “Then there's self-preservation, right?
And so if you really ask me on record, what does Mike Elko want? I want 40 [teams] because then I'll make it and then I won't get fired.”
“… None of us are answering for the good of the sport or answering for the good of ourselves. The different conferences want what they want because it's the best for them,” he said.
“We're a billion-dollar industry that's getting governed in a lot of different, separate pockets, not with one unified leadership. And until that happens, I don't know how we solve anything.”
Texas A&M has only two non-conference games on its 2027 schedule right now: a return trip to Arizona State and a home game against Texas State. A Red Raiders matchup isn’t on there, and a Southwest Conference-style reunion looks unlikely. But McGuire’s message was clear: if Texas schools want to make their non-conference schedules matter, they should start with each other.
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