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Joey McGuire: Texas Tech 'would love to play Texas' in Week 1 of 2026 after Steve Sarkisian comments

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones05/28/26brianjones_93

Joey McGuire has responded to Steve Sarkisian‘s comments alluding to Texas Tech‘s football schedule. Per Chris Vannini of The Athletic, McGuire said he has talked to Texas State and Abilene Christian and would love to buy out those games to play Texas in Week 1 this year.

“We would love to play Texas,” Joey McGuire said. If the game can’t be played in Lubbock, Texas, McGuire said the Red Raiders and Longhorns can play at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

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McGuire made the comments after Steve Sarkisian seemingly took a shot at Texas Tech for its schedule. Last week, Sarkisian attended an event at the Touchdown Club in Houston, and a fan asked him if there is any way the College Football Playoff Committee could factor in strength of schedule in its decision-making.

“There’s a team in our state that plays in another conference that has a schedule that I would argue if I played with our twos and our threes, we could go undefeated, and they’ll probably make the CFP this year,” Sarkisian said. Sarkisian did not reveal the team, but most suspect he was talking about the Red Raiders.

Joey McGuire is coming off a memorable 2025 season

The last time Texas Tech and Texas faced each other was in 2023, and the Longhorns came out on top 57-7. The teams have played each other 73 times, and Texas has won 55 of the matchups.

The reason Texas Tech and Texas don’t play each other on a yearly basis anymore is that the Longhorns moved from the Big 12 to the SEC. Last year, Texas Tech won the Big 12 and reached the College Football Playoff. Texas finished 10-3 and missed the playoffs.

McGuire is entering his fifth season at Texas Tech and has compiled a 35-18 record. 2025 was his best season, winning 12 games and going 8-1 in conference play. A big reason Texas Tech had success in 2025 was the transfer portal. The Red Raiders had the No. 1 transfer class last year, and they enter this season with the No. 2 class behind defending national champion Indiana.