Danny Kanell blasts BYU, Texas Tech non-conference schedules in defense of Miami, Notre Dame

Danny Kanell went after the Big 12 Saturday during the conference championship game between Texas Tech and BYU. He didn’t think either team was up to snuff compared to Notre Dame and Miami, who are definitely watching the game on pins and needles.

“Miami and Notre Dame are both better than these two teams playing for a Big 12 title,” Kanell wrote on Twitter. “Has anyone noticed that neither BYU or Texas Tech played a decent out of conference opponent???”

A win by Texas Tech will certainly give them a first round bye in the College Football Playoff, seeing how as they were No. 4 in the latest rankings this week. Should BYU come back and win, and they trailed 21-7 late third quarter at the time of this writing, the Big 12 might end up getting two teams into the dance. If that’s the case, Notre Dame, in addition to Miami already, might be on the chopping block in the final rankings.

Kanell may have a take that neither team is as good as Notre Dame or Miami, and those two schools have a whole other head to head debate. Pun intended!

But Texas Tech has been thwarting opponents pretty much all season long. So much so that the Red Raiders and head coach Joey McGuire agreed to a new contract extension earlier this month.

The 54-year-old McGuire is in midst of a breakout fourth season in Lubbock, where he’s already compiled a 34-17 overall record coming into Saturday and 24-12 in Big 12 play during his tenure. Prior to landing at Texas Tech in 2022, McGuire spent five years (2017-21) in various roles at Baylor, including associate head coach over his last three seasons.

Before that, though, McGuire built his reputation as a longtime high school coach in the state of Texas, where he turned a struggling Cedar Hill High into a perennial state power, accumulating a stellar 141-42 record with 12 consecutive playoff appearances and three state championships in 14 seasons (2003-16).