Businessman and Texas Tech mega-booster Cody Campbell is one of the most powerful men in college football, a driving force in the Red Raiders’ rise to the top of the Big 12. But there’s apparently one thing Campbell’s money can’t buy.
Campbell issued a fierce protest to one element of the 2026 Big 12 schedule last month, when he decried Texas Tech’s scheduled Sept. 18 contest against the Houston Cougars, a Friday night game.
Friday frustration
Campbell was frustrated by the conference’s perceived encroachment into a night usually reserved for high school football, plus he was peeved by the short week incurred by the Red Raiders with a game at Oregon State on Sept. 12 preceding the game against Houston the following Friday. Campbell made his point plenty clear in April.
“[TV partners] have the draft or whatever, and the conference doesn’t want to really acknowledge it, but they do have an ability to influence those decisions. They just chose not to because they were chasing ratings—which I do understand on one hand, but on the other hand, high school football is important in the state of Texas,” Campbell told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams. “We’ve got a road game the week before. It’s not an ideal situation for us, and … I think our conference should protect us more than they did.”
Big 12 responds
How did the Big 12 respond to Campbell’s complaint? With an effective eye-roll, and a refusal to change the date of the Friday night contest. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told the Avalanche-Journal that Campbell “does not run the Big 12,” a comment that was backed up Saturday. Both Houston and Texas Tech announced the date, time and TV information for the Sept. 18 contest on Saturday, effectively confirming Campbell’s fear, and likely adding to his frustration.
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