After a commanding 35-11 win over Houston on Saturday, the Texas Tech Red Raiders climbed into the top 10 of both major college football polls, landing at No. 9 in the Associated Press rankings and No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. It marks the program’s highest ranking in over a decade and signals that this year’s Texas Tech team is building something special.
For Red Raider fans, this ranking carries echoes of 2013, when Kliff Kingsbury’s squad opened the season 7-0 and briefly cracked the top 10. But even that run doesn’t fully compare to what Joey McGuire’s team is doing now. This year’s Red Raiders aren’t just winning—they’re dominating. Texas Tech’s 5-0 start is the program’s best since 2013, and more impressively, every win has come by at least 20 points. No other team in college football can say the same.
The numbers are staggering. Texas Tech is the only team in the nation this season with five wins by 24 points or more. Only three other Big 12 schools have ever accomplished a similar feat to open a season—Texas (2008), Oklahoma (2008), and Baylor (2015)—all of which finished those seasons in contention for major bowl games. For Tech, this marks the first time in school history they’ve begun a season with such dominant margins of victory. The last time the Red Raiders won five straight by 20-plus points came across two seasons, closing 1953 and starting 1954. That 1953 squad still holds the program record for most 20-point wins in a single year.
Poll voters have taken notice. Texas Tech has skyrocketed from its preseason ranking of No. 23 to inside the top 10 in just five weeks. Along the way, the Red Raiders have dispatched two undefeated opponents, Utah and Houston, both in convincing fashion. Saturday’s win over the Cougars also gave Tech consecutive Big 12 road victories to open league play—something the program has accomplished only once before, back in 1976 during its Southwest Conference championship season.
All of this momentum sets the stage for what could be one of the biggest home games in Lubbock in recent memory. The Red Raiders return home Saturday to face Kansas (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) for their conference home opener and annual Homecoming game. With a sellout crowd expected at Jones AT&T Stadium and a prime-time kickoff set for 6:30 p.m., the atmosphere should be electric.
If Texas Tech can keep rolling, the conversation may soon shift from “top 10 surprise” to “legitimate playoff contender.” The program hasn’t been this highly ranked in the AP poll since late 2008, when the Michael Crabtree-led Red Raiders reached No. 8 before heading to the Cotton Bowl. More than 15 years later, the national spotlight has swung back toward Lubbock, and Texas Tech has a chance to prove it belongs among college football’s elite.
