Longhorns Country

Texas 'Scared' to Play Texas Tech After Big 12 Exit?

Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt threw some shade in the Longhorns' direction at Big 12 Media Days

Matt Galatzan

Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
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The Texas Longhorns are off to the SEC in 2024, meaning this upcoming season will be their last in the Big 12 after nearly three decades. 

With that exit, could potentially come an end to one of their longest-running rivalry matchups against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

And should the schools be unable to come to an agreement to continue their rivalry outside of the Big 12, it would spell an end to more than 70 years of competition between the two. 

In recent months, talks have been slow at best in regards to renewing the annual matchup, mostly due to the Horns already packed non-conference schedule, which features Ohio State, Michigan, UTSA, Arizona State, UTEP and others, on top of their already rough SEC slate.

Now, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt believes he has the Horns' reasoning for not coming to terms on a series renewal - because they're 'scared'.

“(Texas AD Chris Del Conte) is still scared," Hocutt said. "Nothing has changed over the course of the year. Ball's in their court. We welcome a chance to play them."

To be fair, Hocutt did have jest in his voice when making the statement. 

That said, it is hard to believe the Longhorns could be scared of facing a team they've only lost to five times since the turn of the century, and seven times since the inception of the Big 12 27 years ago. 

You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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