The words from the Texas coach that traveled particularly fast were about the wide gap in strength of schedule. It’s a particularly sore subject for Sarkisian, who feels like his Longhorns were left out of last season’s College Football Playoff because of their season-opening loss at Ohio State and that they would have made the 12-team field had they faced an easier non-conference opponent.

 “There’s a team in our state that plays in another conference that has a schedule that I would argue, if I play with our 2s and 3s (backups), we can go undefeated, and they’ll probably make the CFP this year,” Sarkisian told the Houston crowd.

SMU fans, who saw their Mustangs make the College Football Playoff in 2024, probably would love to think their team is on Sarkisian’s mind, but it seems pretty obvious he was picking on Texas Tech. The Red Raiders made their CFP debut last season, going 12-1 with a Big 12 schedule and a non-conference slate of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Kent State and Oregon State. This year’s non-Big 12 games for the Red Raiders are Abilene Christian, Sam Houston and Oregon State.

Campbell, who also tagged Sarkisian and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte in the post, was a former Texas Tech offensive lineman before he made his fortune as co-founder and co-CEO of Double Eagle Energy Holdings. Campbell often makes his feelings known, including his dissatisfaction of Texas Tech having to play Houston on a Friday night, and is viewed as the man as the man who put his money where his mouth is and transformed his school into a contender.

Texas Tech does have an opening for an out-of-conference foe in 2027. It currently has Arkansas-Pine Bluff and New Mexico on the docket. NC State was also on the schedule, but the Wolfpack backed out earlier this year due to a change in ACC scheduling.

Texas, which faces Ohio State in Austin in the second week of the season this year, has Michigan on the non-conference schedule in 2027. The Longhorns also have a home-and-away series with Notre Dame in 2028-29, although there’s some doubt if that will remain.

The Longhorns have won 12 of their past 15 meetings with the Red Raiders, including a 57-7 win in 2023 in Texas’ final year in the Big 12.