As always, the conversation around college football in the 2025-2026 offseason has revolved around strength of schedule.
Conference bragging rights are based on it. The College Football Playoff selection committee incorporates a strength of schedule and strength of resume metric into their ranking system. Perceptions of team strength can swing wildly based on assumptions of their schedule's difficulty.
Predictably, the Big Ten and SEC dominate most lists of the toughest schedules in the country in 2026. The Texas Longhorns may have the most difficult road of any team in the country. Ohio State has road trips to Texas, USC, Iowa, Nebraska and Indiana, while hosting Oregon and Michigan. It's hard to argue that's not one of the toughest schedules, even for arguably the best roster in the sport.
The top-to-bottom strength of the nation's two preeminent conferences, particularly the SEC, means most programs in those leagues have a reasonably demanding slate. Then there's the other Power 4 conferences.
Few would argue that the ACC or Big 12 plays the same level of schedule as Texas or Ohio State in 2026, for example. And schools in the SEC and Big Ten are happy to remind you of it. When playoff debate time comes around, they're the first to point out that 9-3 in the SEC is different from 9-3 in the Big 12. And they're usually right, at least to an extent.
But if you ask the Texas Tech Red Raiders, there's an explanation for their weaker strength of schedule, and it's because those same schools won't play them.
Tech head coach Joey McGuire told Brett McMurphy and On3 that despite their best efforts, and conversations with big programs like USC, Texas A&M, NC State and others, they haven't been able to find top-tier opponents for their non-conference schedules moving forward.
"We’re talking to everybody and anybody. So far, everybody’s told us no," McGuire said.
There may be justifiable reasons for those teams to avoid the Red Raiders, including some residual frustration and anger over the handling of the Brandon Sorsby situation. Yet at the same time, it raises legitimate criticism of those schools, their conferences, and how they argue about this all-important metric.
Texas Tech can't make the other Big 12 teams better. But they can try to make their schedules tougher by adding matchups against traditional powerhouses like Texas A&M, USC, or Texas. If those teams won't schedule Texas Tech, how can they criticize them for not playing enough tough games?
Again, there are legitimate concerns over how Tech handled the Sorsby scandal. And McGuire has already said he wants the team to embrace the role of the "villain" in college football. Still, Tech has made major investments in improving their program, building a playoff contender, and competing with the best of the best. Instead of running away, teams should give them a chance to prove that they're reaching that next level.
Or don't complain about it later.
