It has only been a few years since the Longhorns became part of the SEC. But by the way Coach Sarkisian has been speaking out recently, you would think its a program like Alabama or Georgia. Safe to say his comments around Texas Tech’s easy schedule were not received well. Now, Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders are pushing Texas to meet them in Week 1.

The Big 12 Conference amplified the challenge on X, and McGuire said Texas Tech is even willing to reshuffle its opener to make the game happen.

“We would love to play the University of Texas Week 1 in Lubbock,” Joey McGuire said at the Big 12 spring meetings on Thursday, via The Athletics. 

The seriousness of this challenge is obvious when coach McGuire revealed Texas Tech is willing to buy out its scheduled opener against Abilene Christian to change the schedule. He even said he’s already spoken with ACU head coach Keith Patterson and Texas State coach G. J. Kinne about reshuffling the matchups for Texas’s season opener.

“They are willing to take our games, and Abilene Christian will go to Texas State,” he revealed. “We’ll buy our contract out of Abilene Christian. I’m sure because Texas has a lot of money, they can buy their contract out. But I do know there’s a lot of Red Raiders that will help them buy that contract out if they don’t want to, and they can come to Lubbock in Week 1. We can figure out if their twos and threes can win this conference.”

Steve Sarkisian’s comments, as Anwar Richardson provided, landed on the wrong side of Texas Tech. 

“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,” he said.

He didn’t need to name Texas Tech directly to anyone to know who he’s talking about. The Red Raiders won the Big 12 title and reached the playoffs in 2025 with an 11-1 record. Texas missed the CFP after going 10-3. Joey McGuire initially sounded surprised by Steve Sarkisian’s comments.

“I said, there’s no way they’re talking about us,” he admitted. “Because Sark’s a pretty tough guy, his teams are really tough, and I would think if he was talking about us, he would call us out. Like he wouldn’t just say this comment of, ‘Well, there’s another team in our state.’ So, I guess he was talking about us.”

Unfortunately for Texas, Texas Tech wasn’t interested in letting it stay vague. The head coach didn’t even pretend that the Longhorns had dominated the rivalry recently. 

“The last time we played Texas (2023), we got beat 57-7, and he played some of his two and threes,” he said. “They kicked the crap out of us. I know he feels really good about his team and he’s making those comments.”

The game was played at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. It marked a historic final conference matchup between the two in-state rivals before Texas officially departed the Big 12 to join the SEC. The blowout win secured a spot for Texas in the Big 12 Championship game and eventually paved their way to the College Football Playoff. The game also featured the highly anticipated collegiate debut of freshman quarterback Arch Manning, who completed his first career pass and played much of the second half alongside other second- and third-string players.

That’s why the Red Raiders want another shot. If Texas believes the Big 12 path is that soft, then they can come and prove it on the field. And it’s not just Joey McGuire pushing for the Week 1 matchup.

Texas Tech booster also challenges Steve Sarkisian

When Steve Sarkisian first made that schedule comment about their fellow Lone Star State team, one of the biggest challengers was Texas Tech billionaire booster Cody Campbell. 

“Schedule us then!” he wrote on X. “We’ve been talking about it for years, and we are more than willing!!”

He tagged both the Texas head coach and AD Chris Del Conte in the social media post. Now, Campbell is taking it even further. Reports surfaced Thursday that he has already reached out to Stephen Jones about potentially securing AT&T Stadium as a neutral site if the Longhorns refuse to come to Lubbock. 

“If they don’t want to come to Lubbock, then we’re going to work on trying to get AT&T in Week 1,” McGuire said. “If they want to play Week 1, then we’re ready. We would love to play the University of Texas.”

Maybe Texas didn’t expect things to come this far when Steve Sarkisian first commented. Now, the Red Raiders have turned this into a public dare. The Longhorns are probably looking for an answer right now. 

If Texas ignores the challenge, critics will say Steve Sarkisian talked tough without backing it up. But if the Longhorns accept, they risk replacing a manageable Week 1 tune-up with an emotional rivalry game before facing Ohio State.