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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/usffan on 2025-07-31 09:59:00+00:00.
The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here.
Texas Tech (high = 16, low = 35) completes our last run on Big XII teams at #23, projected to be the 3rd best team in the conference. The Red Raiders went 8-4 in head coach Joey McGuire’s third season before dropping the Liberty Bowl to Arkansas. That makes McGuire 23-16 overall, which is the best record for a Tech head coach since Mike Leach was fired to cover up the fact that Craig James killed 5 hookers, but that’s clearly not going to cut it going forward. McGuire fired DC Tim DeRuyter and lost OC Zach Kittley to FAU as Tom Herman’s replacement, while Cody Campbell opened the vault to ensure there should be lots of guns up signs around Lubbock this year or there’ll be a new sheriff in town.
Roster outlook
Texas Tech ranks 4th in the country in returning production, including having the most defensive production in all of FBS. Crucially, 3,300 yard passer Behren Morton returns, as do a couple of his favorite receivers in Caleb Douglas and Coy Eakin, though top receiver Josh Kelly is off to the Cowboys and 1,500 yard rusher Tahj Boyd is a Cincinnati Bengal. But that is where Campbell’s cash comes into play, as the Red Raiders have the 2nd best portal class in the country coming in, clearly topping the Big XII and pushing them to the top overall class in the conference as well when paired with their recruiting class for 2025, which ranked 48th in the country, just good enough for 8th among the 16 conference members. That includes USC RB Quinton Joyner, Miami WR Reggie Virgil and 3 new OL to help keep Morton upright after 23 sacks last season. But the real upgrades are on the other side of the ball. 6 portal defensive starters are projected, including the entire DL (David Bailey from Stanford, Romello Height from Georgia Tech, Lee Hunter from UCF and Skyler Gill-Howard from Northern Illinois) plus DBs Brice Pollock from Mississippi State and Cole Wisniewski from North Dakota State. New DC Shiel Wood, hired away from Houston, will have the ammo to improve what was the 2nd worst passing defense in all of FBS.
Schedule and outlook
The OOC (Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Kent State and Oregon State) should be a perfect ramp up to Big XII play, and even that opens up with 3 games the Red Raiders should be favored to win (at Utah, at Houston and Kansas) such that Texas Tech should be 6-0 before going to Tempe to face defending champs Arizona State. They get a home date against Oklahoma State before then traveling to the Little Apple to face Kansas State, then get BYU, UCF and go to WVU to close things out. For Tech to make the conference championship game, they’re going to have to not only take care of business but win one of those road games against the top 2 ranked teams in the conference. If they fall short, will Campbell have the patience to support McGuire’s return?