Joey McGuire has done a convincing job selling Texas Tech’s rise. The harder task now is getting other programs to sign up for the schedule.
The Red Raiders have run into real trouble lining up future non-conference opponents this offseason, with talks involving programs such as Texas A&M and USC among the attempts that have not produced a deal. The fallout tied to Brendan Sorsby added another layer, too, with some programs saying they would not play Texas Tech in the future.
Two scheduled series have already fallen apart. Texas Tech’s home-and-home with Mississippi State, set for 2028 and 2029, disappeared after the SEC shifted to a nine-game schedule, and NC State backed out of a planned 2027 one-off in April.
The simple read is that teams do not want Texas Tech. McGuire did not exactly push back on the reality of the situation.
"That's why we have those dates open, we're open to playing anyone," McGuire told CBS Sports on Wednesday.
He even went public with a challenge to Texas to open the season against Texas Tech, but the Longhorns quickly passed. That would have been a huge television event and a fresh shot at an in-state rivalry that vanished when Texas left for the SEC. It also would have forced Texas into a high-risk game with not much upside.
That is the heart of the issue. Texas Tech is no longer being viewed as a convenient Power Four opponent that helps polish a contender’s schedule. The Red Raiders are starting to look like the kind of team national powers would rather avoid.
McGuire put it plainly: "Not many people have openings," McGuire said. "Very limited."
The program’s own rise explains a lot of the hesitation. Texas Tech has put serious money into the roster, attacked the transfer portal and adapted quickly to revenue sharing, building a team that can chase proven talent without acting like it is overreaching.
That changes the calculus for anybody on the other side of the phone. Texas Tech now comes with a dangerous combination: a charged-up program, an expensive roster, legitimate College Football Playoff expectations and one of the Big 12’s toughest road environments.
Why take that on?
In a strange way, the scheduling headache is proof of how far the Red Raiders have come. Texas Tech has made itself relevant enough that other programs have started thinking twice.
The broader issue reaches beyond Lubbock. The expanded playoff was supposed to make teams more willing to schedule aggressively, since a non-conference loss would not automatically bury a season. But the opposite has often happened.
Steve Sarkisian pointed to Texas’ loss to Ohio State last fall as a defining moment. Michigan’s stumble at Oklahoma threatened its CFP hopes before Big Ten play even started. Notre Dame took big swings last season with Miami and Texas A&M in its first two games, and those two losses were too much to overcome.
With more access to the playoff, athletic directors have become even more protective of wins. There is less incentive to take on another Power Four opponent when a softer path can still lead to the same postseason door.
Indiana’s future schedule is another example. The Hoosiers recently pulled out of a series with Notre Dame, and they currently do not have a Power Four nonconference opponent from outside the Big Ten on their future regular-season slate.
"We figured we would just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy," Cignetti said last summer after riding a soft slate to a playoff berth in his first season before winning last year's national title. "Some people don't like it. I'm more focused in on those nine conference games."
That is why McGuire, SMU’s Rhett Lashlee and others have argued that more playoff expansion could finally push the sport back toward better non-conference games.
"The sooner we get to a format where either more teams are in the playoff, or more teams are rewarded for a challenging schedule, I think that'll take care of itself," Georgia's Kirby Smart said last week. "I think you'll get people playing more competitive schedules and more competitive environments."
For now, though, Texas Tech is stuck in the middle of the problem it helped create by becoming good enough to matter. The Red Raiders want marquee games to keep building their profile, boost their résumé and show that the roster-building surge is real.
But established brands, and teams that do not spend at the same level, do not necessarily see the same urgency. Bringing Texas Tech onto the schedule adds danger without guaranteeing much payoff.
McGuire will keep making the calls and taking the swings. College football could use more of those matchups anyway - the regional games, the good-on-good showdowns, the kind of early-season tests people actually want to watch.
Texas Tech has already checked the box of national relevance after winning the Big 12 and finishing in the top 10. The downside of that success is clear now: fewer teams want to play you. And between the Sorsby situation and the program’s rise, the list of willing opponents keeps getting shorter.
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