Joey McGuire Wants Texas Longhorns in Round 1 Of College Football Playoff

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire have been in quite the war of words with each other the past couple of weeks.

It all started with Sarkisian taunting the Red Raiders and their lax scheduling in the Big 12 Conference, which led to a direct challenge from McGuire's team, who even went as far as to say they would buy out their Week 1 match against Abilene Christian just to open up their week for a match with their former conference rivals.

Now, McGuire is making plans to be prepared for the Longhorns even if a regular-season matchup doesn't come to fruition between the two Lone Star schools.

Joey McGuire Sets Goal For College Football Playoff Including the Texas Longhorns

Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire on the sidelines against the Oregon Ducks during the first half of the 2025 Orange Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

In light of the banter with the Texas head coach, McGuire sat in as a guest on Josh Pate's College Football Show and while he applauded the team that Sarkisian has built in the Texas state capital, he also called out the coach for not coming at the team directly in his "team in our state that plays in another conference" comment that started the whole debacle nearly two weeks ago.

"He (Sarkisian) does have a great football team, and I am really anxious to see them this year," McGuire said to the analyst. "And I know that, as a coach, when you have a really good team, you say some stuff and then your players have to go and back it up on the field. My deal was, if you're going to say that, then one, just come out and say who you're talking about, and two, let's play. I feel great about my team."

"We're working our tail off to get back to the playoffs again. I hope that round one is against the University Of Texas"

Spoke with Joey McGuire about his response to Sark's recent comments pic.twitter.com/DUulCN3QSN
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) June 3, 2026

McGuire also set his sights on playing the Horns when the stakes were at their highest in a true testament of whose team was better in a renewal of the "Battle for the Chancellor's Spurs."

"We are working our tail off to get back in the playoffs again, but I hope that round one is against the University of Texas," the Tech coach said emphatically.

McGuire is well aware of what happened the last time he squared off against Steve Sarkisian's men back in 2023, when Texas demolished the Red Raiders 57-7 at DKR. There are also some massive holes in his team on both sides following the NFL draft.

But the Red Raider leader still seems pretty gung-ho on besting one of the nation's best coaches, regardless of how his roster looks.

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