With Texas Tech on an off week, it’s a good moment to look ahead and size up what still stands between the Red Raiders and a Big 12 title game push. When Tech gets back on the field next weekend against Arizona State in Lubbock, seven regular-season games will remain, and the Red Raiders will likely need to win at least six to feel good about their chances of reaching the conference championship.
The surprise is not that the back half of the schedule still matters. It’s that the path got a little less clean than many expected before the season.
The preseason talk around the country was that Texas Tech had the easiest schedule in the Power 4. That idea has faded some as the year has gone on and a few of the Red Raiders’ opponents have played better than projected.
Even so, Tech’s remaining slate is still considered manageable by power-conference standards. According to FourthandShort.com, it is tougher than the remaining schedules for Notre Dame, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Duke, Kansas State, and Clemson, among others.
And while none of Tech’s first five games were easy for a full four quarters, the stretch run does include some spots where the Red Raiders should feel good about their chances. Here’s how the final seven games stack up from least difficult to most difficult.
The most manageable game left appears to be the regular-season finale against TCU on November 26. That one could end up carrying major Big 12 stakes if Tech is still alive for the championship game, but the Horned Frogs have not looked like much of a threat so far.
They are 2-3 and do not have a win over a Power-4 opponent. They are also likely to be underdogs in all but two of their six games before arriving in Lubbock.
If they reach Thanksgiving night already eliminated from bowl eligibility, the Horned Frogs may not have much left to play for. Sonny Dykes could also be coaching his final game for TCU.
Just ahead of that is West Virginia on November 7 in Lubbock. There was a time when the Mountaineers gave Texas Tech real trouble, but that stretch is over.
Tech has won six of the last seven meetings, including the last two by an average of 43 points. West Virginia’s defense has been a mess this season, ranking 132nd nationally and allowing 456.6 yards per game, the most of any Power-4 team other than Stanford.
The Mountaineers are also 0-2 in Big 12 play and have already surrendered 41 and 45 points in those losses.
Arizona State comes next, and that matchup will be the first one after Tech’s open week on October 17. The Red Raiders will remember that the Sun Devils handed Joey McGuire’s team its only Big 12 loss in 2025, so there’s some unfinished business there.
ASU’s season has been uneven in league play. It beat a bad Kansas team by seven in London and then got hammered by Baylor 55-19 in Tempe.
The Sun Devils also lost to a shaky Texas A&M team by 28 earlier this year. They are 122nd nationally in turnover margin, which could be a bad omen against a Texas Tech defense that has started forcing takeaways in bunches lately.
The road trip to Cincinnati on October 24 looked a lot scarier when Brendan Sorsby was Tech’s starting quarterback, but the feel of that game has changed. The Bearcats are 4-1, with home wins over Boston College and Kansas State, but they were also thumped at Arizona 34-7 in their most recent game. Cincinnati is 112th nationally in total defense and 121st against the pass, which at least gives the Red Raider offense a chance to get something going on the road.
Arizona checks in at No. 3 on the list, and this one has the ingredients for a tricky night in Lubbock on October 31. Texas Tech has owned the series, leading 27-5 all-time, and Arizona’s only win in Lubbock came in 1935.
Still, the Wildcats bring a dangerous passing game with senior quarterback Noah Fifita, who has thrown 13 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. Arizona ranks 19th nationally in passing offense and averages just under 300 yards per game through the air.
Tech’s pass defense, which ranks 124th nationally, will have its hands full.
The second-hardest game is November 21 at Baylor. Even though the trip to Waco does not always feel like a true road game because of the number of Texas Tech fans who show up, this is still a dangerous spot.
Baylor nearly opened the season with a win over Auburn and has won four straight since then. Quarterback DJ Lagway has been inconsistent, but he has enough talent to take over a game on the right night.
He is also completing just 53% of his passes, which leaves open the question of whether he can beat Tech through the air. McGuire is 1-2 against his former school, with both losses coming in Lubbock, though he did guide Tech to a 39-14 win in Waco in 2023.
Baylor also has to deal with Tech one week after a trip to BYU, which could matter late.
The toughest remaining game, though, is the November 14 trip to Oklahoma State. If Texas Tech slips anywhere, this is the spot that looks most dangerous.
Stillwater has long been a tough place for the Red Raiders, and this year the Cowboys are rolling under new head coach Eric Morris, a Texas Tech alum. Oklahoma State already upset Oregon in Stillwater and sits at No. 18 in the latest poll with a 3-1 record.
Quarterback Drew Mestemaker has been a major problem for opposing defenses, throwing for 317.7 yards per game, good for 25th in the FBS. If Tech’s pass defense does not improve before that trip, it could be a long afternoon in Boone Pickens Stadium.
In Other News...
Texas Tech's Big Win Got Overshadowed By A Viral Clip Twist
Texas Tech opened Big 12 play with a tense 28-26 win over Houston in Lubbock, the kind of close finish that can tell you plenty about a teams early-season poise. The sold-out crowd of 60,229 gave the night the feel of a real statement game, and the Red Raiders kept their perfect record intact to move to 5-0 under Joey McGuire, staying right where they wanted to be in the AP poll at No. 11.
Still, the buzz around the game did not stop with the final score. A clip of a female fan that aired during the broadcast quickly spread across social media and drew plenty of attention, only for it later to be identified as AI-generated. For a team trying to build momentum and keep the focus on what it is doing on the field, it was an odd footnote to a win that otherwise belonged to Texas Tech. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Fans Won't Like Where These Deion Sanders Questions Are Going
Colorados latest skid has put Deion Sanders back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and the discussion around the Buffaloes is starting to sound less like a reaction to one bad afternoon and more like a broader reset. After a third straight loss, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum took aim at Sanders and pointed to a key interception by quarterback Isaac Wilson, another moment in a stretch that has left Colorado at 2-3 and still searching for any real offensive rhythm.
The quarterback change has not solved much, and Sanders has already acknowledged how poorly the offense has played. Even with his contract extended through 2029, the questions hanging over the program are getting louder, especially as the losses pile up and the direction of the team becomes harder to pin down. For a coach who has brought constant attention to Boulder, the bigger issue now is whether the results are catching up to the hype. [Read more 🡒]