Texas Tech HC Joey McGuire throws bold challenge to Brian Kelly and LSU on future matchup amid playoff format drama

Brian Kelly is gearing up for his fourth season as the coach of the LSU Tigers. Amid the offseason preparations, he has been vocal about wanting more non-conference games in his schedule.

During the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Kelly shared his desire to face teams from the Big Ten.

"We want to compete against the Big Ten," Kelly said. "Look, the Big Ten right now holds it on the SEC. They won the last two national championships. That's the reality of it. We want to get challenged in that regard, and we'd like to be able to get that done in that regard."

On Tuesday, Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire called out Kelly and the Tigers with a bold challenge. At the Big 12 Media Days, he opened up about the changes in the playoff rules while expressing his desire to take on the Tigers.

"We're sitting here talking about the playoffs, if you win the conference you should be in the playoffs," McGuire said. "It's one of the deals... where we now all of a sudden have cross conference games that we're playing each other.

"I saw Brian Kelly say he'd love to play a Big Ten team. Hey, man, I would love to play LSU. A home-and-home series. Whoever plays that, then we look at the rankings and everything like that."

The Texas Tech have faced the LSU Tigers on the field three times. The SEC team leads the rivalry series, winning all the games, with the most recent one being the 2015 AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl.

While McGuire is optimistic about taking on stronger opponents, the Red Raiders are yet to win the Big 12 title under his reign. Since taking over in 2022, McGuire has put up a 23-16 record. Last season, they finished with an 8-5 record and a Liberty Bowl loss to Arkansas.

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LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier showcases support to Brian Kelly amid hot seat rumors

After failing to make the playoffs last season, the rumor mill has been churning about Brian Kelly being on the hot seat. If he fails to live up to the expectations this year, the LSU Tigers might decide to move on from him.

Despite this uncertainty, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier believes in his coach. Last month at the Manning Passing Academy, he heaped praise on Kelly while talking about achieving success this upcoming season.

"Coach Kelly's an unbelievable coach, and I'm fully behind him 100%," Nussmeier told On3's Pete Nakos. "I fully believe in what he teaches and what he preaches. He does an unbelievable job with us. It will come to light this year."

The last time the Tigers won a national championship was during the 2019 season. Only time will tell if Brian Kelly can end this title drought for the team this year.