Leave it to Joey McGuire and Cody Campbell to keep college football at the top of the headlines during what, for years, was a downtime for the sport.
The Texas Tech football coach and the Tech Regents chairman stirred up the news cycle when they said Tech would pay buyouts for its game against Abilene Christian and Texas’ game against Texas State so that the Longhorns could square off with the Red Raiders in a season opener — this season’s opener.
Of course, it’s not going to happen. What’s more fun for Red Raiders’ fans, though, than to hear Joey McGuire throw down a challenge to the Longhorns, aware that there’s not much chance of it coming to fruition? McGuire issued the challenge during the Big 12 spring business meetings on May 27, hours after Tech announced kickoff time and TV coverage (FOX Sports 1) for the Sept. 5 Tech-ACU game.
That’s not changing at this late date, not the way TV networks control things, though it would have been fun to see Texas AD Chris Del Conte accept and then what? Would the networks not be willing to do some horse tradin’ for a game between Texas and first-time CFP qualifier Texas Tech?
A UT athletics spokesman declined comment. An athletics spokesperson at Texas State did not respond to two emails.
Keith Patterson down at ACU confirmed that McGuire called him two days before going public with his plan about how the Red Raiders and the Longhorns could renew a series that’s been dormant since 2023.
“I was laughing about it,” said Patterson, the ACU head coach who served as the Tech defensive coordinator from 2019 through 2021. “I assumed he was laughing about it as well, and I think he was just taking a shot, probably.”
Patterson would have a million reasons to go along with Tech backing out of hosting ACU. The game guarantee — what Texas Tech will pay ACU to play the 2026 opener — is $375,000. The contract buyout — what Tech would owe ACU for not playing the game — is $1 million.
“You know what? Anything that’ll help our athletic department, I’d always be for,” Patterson said. “Two years ago, New Mexico State backed out of a deal, so we ended up double dipping.”
By double-dipping, Patterson means ACU received a buyout from New Mexico State for not playing the game scheduled in November 2024, plus the negotiated game guarantee to play another opponent.
“In this day and age of college football, with the fluidity,” Patterson said, “I’m open to anything. I just want to do everything we can to help our athletic department, because those [game guarantees] are important for our overall athletic budget, so, shoot, anything that’ll benefit our university, I’m for it.
“They’re very important, so, man, if we could get two for the price of one in one year, that’d be awesome. And we actually did that two years ago, so that’s nothing but a plus for us.
“Joey’s having fun with it, but it would be a very interesting scenario if something like that grew legs for sure.”
More than fun, it’d make for a fantastic opener. No one should hold his or her breath, though. It’s not happening. It’s just another fun footnote in the rivalry. That rivalry’s dead for the time being, and as Joey McGuire will tell anyone, it’s not because the Red Raiders are unwilling.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: ACU has a million reasons for Texas Tech football to cancel | Williams
Reporting by Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal | USA TODAY Network
