Texas Tech football 2026 schedule is set, Big 12 play opens vs Houston
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The Texas Tech football team will open conference play against Houston on Sept. 19, and the Red Raiders will have an open date after they’ve played five games, according to the setup the Big 12 office released on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
Tech, which opens the season Sept. 5 against Abilene Christian and Sept. 12 at Oregon State, will play a conference opponent before its non-conference finale for the first time since 2020.
That was when the COVID pandemic reduced the schedule to 10 games and the second game was against Texas. In a non-COVID season, the last time the Red Raiders played a Big 12 opponent before their last non-conference game was in 2013 when a Thursday night matchup against TCU was Tech’s third game of the year.
Tech finishes the first month with a Sept. 26 non-conference finale against Sam Houston State. The Red Raiders play Oct. 3 at Colorado, have their open date, then host Arizona State on Oct. 17 and visit Cincinnati on Oct. 24.
Then come back-to-back home games Oct. 31 against Arizona and Nov. 7 against West Virginia and consecutive road games Nov. 14 at Oklahoma State and Nov. 21 at Baylor.
The regular-season finale is Nov. 28 against TCU in Jones AT&T Stadium.
Wednesday’s schedule release attached dates to opponents and sites that were already known.
In November 2023, the Big 12 released a four-year schedule plan with every team’s conference opponents, home and away, for the 2024-27 seasons.
The same month, Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt vowed to have seven home games a year with the Red Raiders playing either two or three non-conference home games depending on whether the Big 12 rotation gave Tech four or five conference home games.
Hocutt has made one exception: Tech will stay with six home games in 2027, because he sees a game against North Texas in Denton as similar to a seventh home game with Tech’s large alumni base in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Other notable details concerning the 2026 schedule:
∎ The game at Colorado will be Tech’s first in Boulder since 2010. The Buffaloes left the Big 12 for the Pac-12 after that season. Since the Buffs rejoined the Big 12, the two teams played in 2024 at Jones AT&T Stadium.
∎ The Red Raiders are playing at Cincinnati for the first time. Tech’s quarterback is expected to be the QB who was the Bearcats’ starter the past two years, Brendan Sorsby. He joined the Red Raiders this month via the NCAA transfer portal.
∎ Arizona will play in Lubbock for the first time since the 1989 season opener. The Wildcats were one of four Top 20 teams the Red Raiders beat that year in a 9-3 season.
TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL 2026 SCHEDULE
Home games in ALL CAPS
Asterisks (*) denote Big 12 games
Times to be announced
Sept. 5 ABILENE CHRISTIAN
Sept. 12 at Oregon State
Sept. 19 HOUSTON*
Sept. 26 SAM HOUSTON STATE
Oct. 3 at Colorado*
Oct. 17 ARIZONA STATE*
Oct. 24 at Cincinnati*
Oct. 31 ARIZONA*
Nov. 7 WEST VIRGINIA*
Nov. 14 at Oklahoma State*
Nov. 21 at Baylor*
Nov. 28 TCU*
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football reveals full schedule, including Big 12 game dates
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