While no one wants to feel sorry for Texas Tech these days, what happened to them earlier this week is a good example of why college football non-conference scheduling no longer works.
According to multiple reports, including On3, USC backed out of a pair of neutral site games being negotiated for 2027 and 2028. Tech was working with USC because NC State had previously backed out of a 2027 game with Tech due to the ACC’s new nine-game schedule.
Now the Red Raiders must find a power conference game for 2027 per Big 12 requirements. The way non-conference games are scheduled makes that a problem.
Texas Tech’s Scheduling Issue is a CFP-Wide Problem
The Red Raiders have two non-conference games for 2027 — UAPB and New Mexico. Both are in Lubbock. So where is Texas Tech going to get a power conference opponent? Good question.
Most power conference teams — in fact most college football teams — plan their non-conference schedules year in advance. USC and Texas Tech negotiating to play neutral site games this year for 2027 and 2028 is an anomaly. It was driven in part by Texas Tech losing its game with NC State.
But it’s rare to find another power conference opponent this late in the game with an opening for 2027. That’s because schools set these contracts years in advance. A good example — LSU and Clemson.
LSU and Clemson are set to play each other in their respective season openers on Sept. 5. The game is in Baton Rouge and it’s a return game for Clemson, which hosted LSU last year. The contract for this home-and-home series was signed in … 2018. It’s almost a miracle it wasn’t canceled or delayed.
With all the things happening in college sports right now college football scheduling might seem like a small thing. But as the SEC and the ACC rightly move to a nine-game conference schedules, the College Football Playoff committee is going to be able to better compare credentials. While most power conference teams play at least one other power conference opponent, not all those games are equal — especially when some of them are set seven years in advance.
This is another reason why power conferences need to come together and figure out a year-to-year scheduling process that can yield great, meaningful and equal matchups moving forward. There are these narratives about certain conferences not playing other conferences. Well, let’s create a process where they must?
We do this in basketball with the ACC-SEC challenge, and we used to do it with the Big 12-SEC challenge. Why can’t we put all the power conference teams in a pool, with Notre Dame, and come up with great games every year as opposed to doing year-to-year contracts eight years where no one has any clue what they’re going to get?
I wonder if Texas Tech is asking itself the same question right now?
