Acting on his new policy of scheduling seven home games a year for the Texas Tech football team, Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt solved the first issue at the end of February, saying he had finalized a contract with Kent State to come to Jones AT&T Stadium in 2025.
The Kent State game is a replacement for one at Colorado State, for which Tech will pay a $1 million buyout.
The next season that Tech doesn't have seven home games on the schedule is 2027, and internal discussions continue on whether the Red Raiders want to go through with playing North Texas in Denton that year. Tech could pay a buyout, try to negotiate an alternative or do neither.
Tech's administration and coaches long have valued playing games in Dallas-Fort Worth as a treat to its large Metroplex alumni base and for perceived benefits in exposure and recruiting.
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Tech coach Joey McGuire and Hocutt have discussed whether they want to play at UNT, McGuire said last week, but not decided.
"I'm a big proponent of playing seven home games," McGuire said. "We can almost make that a home game, though, because you're going to a place that's one of our biggest alumni bases. If it was somewhere that wasn't like that, I'd be more apt to say, 'We've got to get another home game.' We've kind of bounced back and forth on that, that we've got a chance to go into Dallas-Fort Worth and really take over that stadium."
On another scheduling matter, McGuire said he didn't object in December when Tech rescheduled a road game at Oregon from 2024 to 2033 and replaced it with a Sept. 7 game this season at Washington State.
Tech, Boise State and Washington State made scheduling accommodations to help Oregon and Oregon State continue their rivalry series as non-conference opponents.
As part of the deal, Washington State will come to Lubbock in 2032, and Tech will fulfill its two-game home-and-home with Oregon the following season.
McGuire said he "was really open" to either team during discussions.
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Rescheduling Oregon from 2024 to 2033 displeased some Tech fans. Oregon went 12-2 last season and is among the high-profile schools leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. Washington State finished 5-7 and is one of the teams left behind in the collapsed Pac-12.
"I know a lot of people won't agree with this," McGuire said, "because definitely Oregon has got a lot of hype around them and deservedly so, and (Ducks coach) Dan Lanning's done a great job. But to me, both of them are going to be (a challenge) ... .
"We're going to go on the road. We haven't played well on the road. They're going to be really tough places to play. It's going to be a big night for Washington State. I think Mike Leach is getting inducted into their Hall of Fame for our game. Whenever it was presented that way, it was like, 'Whatever we think is going to help us this year and in the long run.'
"We're doing a favor for somebody. It's not like we're not playing a really good football team in a really tough place to play. So I was like, 'Whatever you think's best, whatever helps us out,' I was fine with it."
A Washington State athletics spokesman confirmed Tuesday that Leach, the former Red Raiders and Cougars coach, is part of a WSU Hall of Fame class that has not yet been announced.
The Pac-12 announced Tuesday that FOX or FOX Sports 1 will televise the Tech-WSU game. The kickoff time will be set at a later date.
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