Texas Tech’s grip on the Big 12 is showing up in the one place that usually settles the argument: recruiting rankings.
A recent Rivals chart posted on X laid it out plainly. The top 10 recruits in the Big 12 for 2027?
Nine of them are committed to Texas Tech. You have to get all the way to No.
8, Houston commit Raiden Cook, before finding a player not headed to Lubbock.
That kind of haul has Tech in line for what could be the highest-ranked high school class in program history. The Red Raiders currently sit at No. 9 nationally, while the nearest Big 12 challenger is Kansas State at No. 34.
The raw class ranking doesn’t tell the whole story, though. Recruiting boards can lean heavily on volume, and Texas Tech is doing more with less.
The Red Raiders have 17 committed players in the 2027 class, while Kansas State has 27 high school commitments and still trails Tech by 25 spots. Even more striking, Texas Tech has the smallest class among the top nine teams in Rivals’ rankings.
The quality is loud, too. Tech’s average ranking per recruit is 91.4, which is the fifth-best mark in the country.
And that’s without five-star edge rusher LaDamion Guyton in the 2027 class. Guyton, once considered the top player in America in the class of 2027, graduated early and skipped his senior year to join the Red Raiders for the upcoming season.
Even after that change, the class still packs serious punch. Texas Tech has two five-star recruits set to arrive after this season: Jalen Brewster, the nation’s top overall recruit and a defensive tackle from Cedar Hill, Texas, and Anthony Sweeney, an edge rusher from Maryland who ranks No. 16 overall in his class.
The Red Raiders also have 10 four-star players in the 2027 group. That matches the total four-star count of Kansas State, Houston, TCU, Utah, BYU, and Arizona combined.
What makes this more than a one-cycle spike is how Texas Tech has built it. Less than two years ago, the program was coming off a double-digit home loss to Colorado, a defeat that helped keep the Red Raiders out of the Big 12 Championship Game. After that game, booster Cody Campbell answered a fan on X who wanted the offensive line fixed by saying, "I will".
The spending that followed went well beyond one position group. Texas Tech brought in the nation’s top transfer class and used that overhaul to power last season’s Big 12 title. Newcomers David Bailey, Romello Height, Lee Hunter, AJ Holmes, and Bryce Pollock all helped reshape the defense in one offseason.
Joey McGuire has deep high school football roots, and that shows in the way he’s building. Texas Tech continues to hunt prep talent all over the map, pulling in recruits from Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana. The Red Raiders have also gone international, landing offensive tackle Zarius Matavo from the NFL Academy in Melbourne, Australia, and edge rusher Adeola Werner from the NFL Academy in London, England.
That’s why the recruiting race in the Big 12 looks so lopsided right now. While the rest of the league is moving at a steady pace, Texas Tech is pushing ahead fast. BYU head coach Kalani Sitake recently made a public plea for more booster investment, which only underscores how far the Red Raiders have pulled away in this arms race.
If BYU is the biggest threat standing closest to Texas Tech, and even it feels the gap, the rest of the conference has plenty of catching up to do. For now, the future of the Big 12 looks very much scarlet and black.
In Other News...
Texas Tech's Top Commit Just Created A New Recruiting Tension
Five-star defensive lineman Jalen Brewster, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2027 Rivals300, is changing high schools, moving from Cedar Hill in Texas to Buford in Georgia as his senior-year path takes him farther from home. Even with the transfer, Brewster remains committed to Texas Tech, where he has been pledged since October 2025, and the Red Raiders have plenty of reason to keep treating him like the centerpiece of their class.
The move adds a fresh layer of intrigue because Brewster has still made the rounds with other programs, even as he works toward graduating early in December and enrolling at Texas Tech ahead of schedule. The expectation is that his recruitment will wrap up soon, which leaves the Red Raiders watching a high-profile national prospect navigate one last stretch before his college decision becomes official in practice, not just on paper. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Fans Just Got Another Reason To Love SaRod Baker
Texas Techs 2027 class already has the look of a group that could shape the programs future, and SaRod Baker keeps adding to the buzz. The highly regarded running back, ranked No. 71 overall and No. 4 at his position by 247Sports.com, recently turned a high school scrimmage into a highlight reel with a 99-yard touchdown run, another reminder of why his commitment has carried so much weight for the Red Raiders.
Baker is headed into a backfield that should be crowded by the time that class signs in December, which only makes his profile more interesting for Texas Tech fans. For a program trying to stack elite talent and keep building one of its best recruiting classes ever, plays like that serve as a reminder that Baker brings more than reputation. He brings the kind of explosiveness that can make a class stand out before he ever steps on campus. [Read more 🡒]
Former FSU Quarterback Buzz Could Reignite An Uncomfortable Debate
Thomas Castellanos sudden availability has put Texas Tech back in the kind of quarterback conversation it would rather avoid revisiting too soon. The former FSU signal-caller was recently granted a fifth year of college eligibility through a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, and reports say he is now in contact with the Red Raiders about a possible transfer. With the position still carrying the baggage of recent turbulence, Texas Tech is said to be weighing the situation carefully rather than rushing into another move.
The interest is not isolated to Lubbock, either, with Duke among the other programs mentioned as possible landing spots. For Texas Tech, the appeal is obvious enough: a talented quarterback with an unusual path back onto the market. But until there is an official decision, the discussion remains part opportunity, part warning, especially for a team still trying to steady itself after the Brendan Sorsby situation and avoid another uneasy reset. [Read more 🡒]