Texas Tech Regent Campbell Challenges Yormark on Friday Game Shift
Cody Campbell, Texas Tech's board of regents chairman and prominent booster, publicly criticized Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark over a potential shift of the Red Raiders' game against Houston to Friday night. Campbell posted on X that Friday night lights hold sacred status for Texas high school football, calling the proposed change for the September 19 matchup absurd. Yormark responded that Campbell does not run the conference.
The dispute arose as the Big 12 considers moving select games off Saturdays, a practice approved by the league's board and athletic directors to boost viewership. Campbell, a former Texas Tech offensive lineman and co-founder of the school's Matador Club NIL collective, argued the commissioner serves the conference presidents and boards, not as a dictator. He referenced head coach Joey McGuire's phrase "EVERYTHING RUNS THROUGH LUBBOCK" in a follow-up post, also alluding to the banned tortilla-tossing tradition at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Yormark told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that Friday night Big 12 games outperformed the conference's average rating by 64 percent in 2025, with all schools treated equally in TV scheduling. The Texas Tech-Houston game fits those parameters following the Red Raiders' September 12 trip to Oregon State.
Campbell told the Avalanche-Journal the shift now appears too late to reverse and could disadvantage the team. He has advocated combining conference media rights and participated in a White House roundtable on college sports issues.
