ABILENE – ACU and Texas Tech announced Thursday that they have agreed to play two football games against each other in the 2024 and 2026 seasons.
The games will be played Aug. 31, 2024, and Sept. 5, 2026, at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock.
"Those two games are a long way off, but we're extremely excited to add Texas Tech to our schedule," ACU director of athletics Lee De León said. "We've been working on this contract with Tech for a while, and I appreciate (Texas Tech director of athletics) Kirby Hocutt for working with us and getting ACU on the Texas Tech schedule. I know our fans in West Texas and in the Panhandle will be excited to see the Wildcats playing in Lubbock."
The Wildcats and Red Raiders have met nine times in their histories, but haven't played each other since 1949. Texas Tech holds a 6-3 advantage with four straight victories (1930, 1931, 1941 and 1949). ACU's last win in the series was a 7-3 win in Lubbock on Nov. 11, 1929, a game that also marked ACU's last win in the series.
ACU now has three Big 12 teams on future schedules: Baylor in 2018, Kansas State in 2022 and Texas Tech. The Wildcats are also scheduled to play two Southeastern Conference teams in upcoming seasons: Mississippi State in 2019 and Texas A&M in 2020.
Texas Tech is 17-3 all-time against current members of the Southland Conference with ACU holding the league's only wins over the Red Raiders. The Red Raiders are 2-0 vs. Lamar, 1-0 vs. Central Arkansas, 2-0 vs. Sam Houston State, 3-0 vs. Stephen F. Austin, 2-0 vs. Northwestern State, and 1-0 vs. Southeastern Louisiana.
The Red Raiders have played a team from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) each year since 2008 and will play Eastern Washington in Lubbock this fall, and will follow that with games against Lamar (2018), Montana State (2019) and Lamar again in 2020.
In 2014, Central Arkansas went to Lubbock and only lost to the Red Raiders, 42-35, and in 2015, Sam Houston State took its high-octane offense to the Panhandle and gave the Tech defense all it wanted in a 59-45 loss.
DATE CHANGE FOR MISSISSIPPI STATE GAME
De León also announced Thursday that the date for ACU's 2019 game at Mississippi State has been pushed back to later in the season. The game was originally scheduled to be played Oct. 12, 2019, in Starkville, Miss. However, the game is now scheduled to be played Nov. 23, 2019.
SPRING TRAINING UPDATE
• ACU's spring football practice on Wednesday, March 29, has been dubbed "Faculty, Staff and Student Appreciation Practice." The practice is scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m. at the Abilene Bone and Joint Clinic field (1749 Pine St.) and an ACU ID is required for admission.
• ACU will host a Wildcat Kids Day camp on Friday, April 7, before the final practice of spring football. The camp is open to children from kindergarten through eighth grade and is a free camp at Shotwell Stadium. The camp will go from 5-6 p.m. before the Wildcats go through their final practice / scrimmage of spring camp.
