Joey McGuire criticizes college football calendar after CFP loss: 'Everything we do is backwards to me'

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire is the latest prominent college football figure to criticize the college football calendar. He is far from the first.

McGuire, who led Texas Tech to an 11-1 regular season record, a Big 12 Championship (first in program history), and a College Football Playoff appearance (first in program history) last season, joined Andy & Ari to push for a change to the calendar. He did not hold back in his true thoughts.

Many coaches are annoyed with the schedule, which currently sees Conference Championship games played on the first Saturday in December. Last season, conference title games took place on Dec. 6. Three conference champions, Georgia (SEC), Indiana (Big Ten), and Texas Tech (Big 12), received First Round Playoff byes and did not play again until Dec. 31/Jan. 1.

In the two years of the 12-team Playoff, teams that have received a First Round bye are 1-7 in Quarterfinal games. Indiana, the eventual National Champion from this past season, is the lone team to win its quarterfinal game after receiving a bye. This long layoff, along with the Transfer Portal opening on Jan. 2 (one day after Quarterfinal games), has coaches pulling out their hair (if they have any left).

“We’re still in the process with that because until we get the calendar fixed, and I don’t know why that’s not the No. 1 priority out of everybody,” McGuire said. “I keep hearing about NIL and eligibility. I keep hearing about maybe changing the Transfer Portal. Until we get the calendar fixed, everything we do is backwards to me. It’s just putting band-aids over issues. So, what we’re trying to learn right now is how Indiana did it. They were a great football team. They had great players.”

College football calendar extends six extra days next season

“But, Indiana is the only team in the last two years that have been able to handle the 25-day layoff when the other team did not have a 25-day layoff,” McGuire continued. “We’re trying to dig into how can we practice different? I heard Dan Lanning had a mock game. Do we do something like that? Because, if you do win the conference again, there’s a good chance you get a bye. You have a 25-day layoff, and that can’t be the excuse. You’ve got to find a way to overcome that, and Coach (Curt) Cignetti‘s the only guy who’s been able to do that so far.”

The calendar will not change this season. The College Football Playoff officially released the dates and bowl sites for the upcoming CFP in early February.

The 2026 Quarterfinals will kick off on Wednesday, Dec. 30, with the Fiesta Bowl. The Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Rose Bowl will be held two days later on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027. The Semifinals will then follow two weeks after that, beginning with the Orange Bowl set for Thursday, Jan. 14 and the Sugar Bowl set for Friday, Jan. 15. The 2027 CFP National Championship Game will follow 10 days later on Monday, Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 2026-27 National Championship Game takes place six days later than it did last season.