Looks like Joey McGuire has decided that if Texas won’t schedule Texas Tech, he’s not going to stop talking about it. For the second time in a matter of weeks, the Red Raiders head coach fired a public shot at Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns. And this one landed with even less subtlety than the last.

Speaking at a Red Raider fan event in San Antonio on Wednesday, Joey McGuire revealed that Texas Tech is close to finalizing a major home-and-home series for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. The opponent remains under wraps for now, but according to OnTexasFootball’s CJ Vogel, the head coach couldn’t resist taking another jab at Texas while discussing the announcement.

“It won’t be Texas because they’re scared,” he said.

Texas may have moved on to the SEC, but Texas Tech certainly hasn’t moved on from the Longhorns. The comment was another chapter in a feud that started after Steve Sarkisian appeared to take a veiled shot at the Big 12 program last month. 

“There’s a team in our state in another conference with a schedule that I would argue if I played with our twos and threes, we could go undefeated, and they’ll probably make the CFP this year,” he said then. 

Nobody really needed a detective to figure out he was talking about Texas Tech. The Red Raiders certainly didn’t. And ever since, Joey McGuire has been taking that comment seriously. He challenged Texas to scrap its Week 1 matchup against Texas State while volunteering his team to buy out its own game against Abilene Christian. He suggested meeting in Lubbock, even suggested AT&T Stadium. He basically left every door open except the one leading to excuses.

“We’ll buy our contract out of Abilene Christian,” he said. “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.”

That challenge fascinated billionaire booster Cody Campbell, who publicly offered to cover buyouts for both schools. Even if Texas doesn’t agree to it, Joey McGuire still wants to find a way to play Steve Sarkisian’s team. During an appearance with Josh Pate, he doubled down on it.

“We’re working our tail off to get back to the playoffs again,” he said. “I hope that round one is against the University of Texas.”

It’s already sounding more and more like personal pride than scheduling talk now. But if Texas won’t come, Texas Tech is looking elsewhere. CBS Sports reported that the Red Raiders are trying to find a home-and-home powerhouse opponent for 2027 and 2028. As of now, Notre Dame and USC are in the talks. 

A series against Marcus Freeman’s Irish would create a first-ever meeting between the two programs. A matchup with Lincoln Riley’s Trojans would bring some history with it. USC owns a 3-0 record against Texas Tech, including a Cotton Bowl victory following the 1994 season. The schools haven’t met since. Either opponent fits the profile Texas Tech described when they referenced a “major blue blood.” And frankly, that’s part of what makes this situation fascinating.

Texas Tech isn’t sitting around waiting for Texas to call

Texas Tech is aggressively chasing national relevance, investing heavily in football, spending in recruiting and NIL, and trying to build schedules that attract national attention. The irony is that while the Red Raiders keep poking Texas, the Longhorns can reasonably point to their own schedule and say they’re already playing one of the toughest slates in America.

Texas hosts Ohio State in a huge non-conference showdown in Week 2 this season. So a Week 1 matchup against the Big 12 champions would be much more riskier than Texas State. From their lens, adding Texas Tech may create more risk than reward despite the importance of this rivalry that was played each year from 1960 to 2023. 

Back in April, Texas Tech’s schedule unexpectedly opened up after NC State exercised a buyout clause and canceled the 2027 game in Lubbock, citing the ACC’s move to a nine-game conference schedule. The cancellation triggered a domino effect that also led Texas Tech to drop a scheduled road game against North Texas, creating room for a replacement opponent.

“We have actively been working on our 2027 football schedule for several weeks now and hope to have a new agreement with a power conference and FBS school finalized soon,” AD Kirby Hocutt said. 

Now it looks like that search is nearing completion. Whether the opponent ends up being Notre Dame or USC, Joey McGuire has already made one thing clear. His first choice would’ve been Texas.