Texas Tech football fills a 2027 schedule vacancy with New Mexico
· Yahoo Sports
When Texas Tech found itself in a two-part scheduling bind, it turned to a neighbor and one of its most frequent opponents over the years to solve one of the issues.
The Texas Tech football team will host New Mexico in 2027.
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The Red Raiders will play the Lobos on Sept. 18, 2027, at Jones Stadium. The two schools jointly announced the one-game agreement on Tuesday, May 12.
Tech will owe UNM a game guarantee of $1.2 million within 30 days after the game. The contract was finalized on May 1.
Tech has been looking for two 2027 opponents since April, when North Carolina State opted out of the second game of a two-game contract, leaving Tech with only five home games that year. That prompted Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt to opt out of a road game at North Texas.
According to the contracts, Tech will owe North Texas a $1 million buyout within 60 days of the date of the game, and NC State will owe Tech a $1 million buyout by Feb. 15, 2028.
Tech said in its announcement on Tuesday it remains in active-search mode for a Power Four conference opponent.
Two Tech opponents backed out of games against the Red Raiders in recent months, Mississippi State because of the Southeastern Conference's decision to go from eight conference games to nine and NC State because of the Atlantic Coast Conference's decision to do the same.
In UNM's case, Texas A&M opted out of a game against the Lobos in College Station.
Mississippi State in February canceled games against Tech in 2028 and 2029. That contract was signed in the spring of 2017. Mississippi State doesn't owe a buyout because forward-looking language in the contract made an exception for "a conference mandated change in the required number of league opponents."
Hocutt has made seven home games a season a scheduling priority since Tech opened $242 million worth of new football facilities. Hocutt has cited seven home games a year as giving the Red Raiders the best chance to make the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff — which they did for the first time last season — as well as showcasing and generating an extra game of revenue from the new south end zone building at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Tech is 37-6-2 against UNM in a series that dates to 1931. The Red Raiders have won four in a row and 14 of the last 15 between the two programs, the Lobos' lone victory in that stretch coming in a 2004 game in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Lobos finished 9-4 last season and was one of four teams atop the Mountain West Conference with a 6-2 record. Minnesota beat UNM in the Rate Bowl.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football fills a 2027 schedule vacancy with New Mexico