Texas Tech escaped Corvallis with a 35-24 comeback win over Oregon State on Saturday night, and somehow the punishment many Red Raider fans expected never came in the polls.
When the latest rankings dropped Sunday, Joey McGuire’s team barely moved at all. Texas Tech stayed at No. 13 in the Associated Press Poll and actually rose one spot to No. 12 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, right back where it opened the season.
The bigger shift around the Red Raiders came from the teams chasing them. BYU climbed four places to No. 11 after beating Arizona at home, and the Cougars have now passed Tech in the A.P. as the Big 12’s highest-ranked team.
Behind Texas Tech, the league’s other ranked teams are Utah at No. 17 in both polls and Houston at No. 22 in the A.P. and No. 23 in the Coaches Poll. Oklahoma State, Arizona, and Kansas State also picked up votes in at least one of the rankings.
At the top, Texas is the new No. 1 after its dramatic 20-point comeback win over Ohio State. Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana, and Miami round out the top five in both polls.
For plenty of observers, the surprise wasn’t Texas Tech slipping. It was that the Red Raiders didn’t.
The case against Tech is pretty straightforward: the team has not looked like a top-13 group. The season opener against Abilene Christian was underwhelming, and the trip to Oregon State exposed plenty of rough edges. By that standard, there are teams lower in the rankings that have done more to earn their spot.
Tennessee, for instance, sits at No. 15 in the A.P. and No. 14 in the Coaches Poll after beating Furman and then winning 45-24 at Georgia Tech. SMU is only No. 16 in both polls despite a win at Florida State and a second straight convincing result against UC Davis. Utah has also put together a stronger resume, blasting Arkansas 43-10 in Salt Lake City after opening with a 66-14 win over Idaho.
The latest rankings say as much about preseason reputation as they do about what happened on the field last week. Texas Tech entered the year with enough respect to stay in the mix, and that kind of head start matters when voters are sorting through results they haven’t seen closely.
That may change soon. Tech’s week-three matchup with Houston on Friday night is the premier game of the weekend, which means the Red Raiders will be front and center for a much bigger audience. Next week’s polls should tell a more complete story.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Fans Are Already Sounding The Alarm After Corvallis
Two games into the season, Texas Tech has already given its fan base plenty to pick apart. A narrow win over Oregon State followed by a less competitive outing against Abilene Christian has left some supporters uneasy, and the conversation online has quickly shifted from optimism to concern. The complaints have touched just about every part of the operation, from penalties to play calling to the broader sense that the Red Raiders have not looked as sharp as expected.
Social media has become the sounding board for that frustration, with fans openly questioning why the early performances have been so uneven. It is still early, but the tone around the program has changed fast, and the alarm after Corvallis is less about one bad stretch than the feeling that Texas Tech has not yet put together a clean, convincing showing. If the Red Raiders want to quiet that chatter, the next few weeks will matter a lot. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Escaped With A Win But A Bigger Problem Looms
Texas Tech got the result it wanted against Oregon State, but the performance left plenty to sort through. The Red Raiders held on for a 35-24 win even as the offense looked uneven at times, with J'Koby Williams providing one of the clearest positives by leading the ground game with 116 rushing yards and a touchdown. Will Hammond also did enough to steady things, throwing for 189 yards and a go-ahead touchdown pass.
The bigger issue now is what comes next at quarterback. The Red Raiders used Thomas Castellanos as well, leaving the position picture unsettled even after a victory that should have brought some clarity. An answer is expected from the offensive coordinator soon, and for a team that escaped with a win despite a shaky outing, defining those roles feels like the next step it cannot afford to delay. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas Poll Slide Puts New Heat On The Sooners Offense
The latest Coaches Poll had plenty of ripple effects after Texas stunned top-ranked Ohio State, with the Longhorns climbing and the Buckeyes sliding after a wild afternoon that reshaped the top of the rankings. Texas did its damage with a furious fourth-quarter rally, turning what looked like a comfortable Ohio State win into one of the early seasons loudest statements and changing the conversation around the teams near the top.
Oklahoma felt some of that pressure, too, as its own place in the poll shifted while other programs around the Sooners moved and jockeyed for position. For Texas Tech fans keeping an eye on the league landscape, it was a reminder that one marquee result can alter the mood across the Big 12 picture, even before the rest of the conference settles into its own rhythm. [Read more 🡒]