If college football teams could post a want-ad to Craig’s List, Texas Tech‘s page would read “home-and-home series wanted for 2028 and 2029.”
With the SEC extended its conference slated to nine games, Mississippi State will be canceling its planned home-and-home series with Texas Tech in 2028 and 2029 to accommodate the league’s latest logistical move.
It puts the Red Raiders in need of a new Power-4 opponent to fill out two weeks of its nonconference slate for both, the 2028 and 2029, seasons as the school already has four combined games against by Greater 6 opponents (Stephen F. Austin and Wyoming in 2028; Incarnate Word and Missouri State in 2029).
Mississippi State doesn’t owe Texas Tech a buyout as a result of the SEC’s move, which negates the school’s agreement signed in 2017.
As for a potential replacement, Texas Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt must look to the ACC or the Big Ten for another Power 4 home-and-home series to fill the void left the Bulldogs on the 2028 and 2029 calendars.
With seven home games in 2026, the Red Raiders are looking at strong odds of another College Football Playoff bid with a home schedule including Abilene Christian (Sept. 5), Houston (Sept. 19), Sam Houston (Sept. 26), Arizona State (Oct. 17), Arizona (Oct. 31), West Virginia (Nov. 7), and TCU (Nov. 28).
Realistically speaking, two of those games – ASU and Arizona – will give Tech the most trouble, and the former is yet another Big 12 contender entering this season with a similarly reloaded roster and a pricey head coaching extension.
