Football fans are counting down the days until September 5, when the Texas Tech football team finally returns to action. Of course, the 2026 Red Raiders aren't entering just any season. For the first time in half a century, Tech has an opportunity to win a second straight outright conference championship.
That's a sentence that would have sounded almost impossible only a few years ago.
Still, plenty of people around the country are wondering whether Joey McGuire's program can possibly be as dominant this fall as it was in 2025. That's understandable considering some of the names that are no longer on the roster.
Defensive stars Jacob Rodriguez, David Bailey, Romello Height, and Lee Hunter are gone. Meanwhile, the uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position has given the skeptics even more ammunition. After winning the Big 12 and reaching the College Football Playoff last season, regression is what many outside of West Texas seem to expect.
But what if they're looking at this team the wrong way?
There are legitimate reasons to believe that the 2026 Red Raiders could actually be better than the 2025 team. In fact, if a few important pieces fall into place, this roster might have what it takes to do more than simply defend its Big 12 championship. It could be capable of making a run at the National Championship.
As the Red Raiders grind through fall camp and the rest of us slog through the August sports wasteland, visions of touchdowns are dancing in our heads. So let's take a look at why last year's magical season might have been only a prelude to something even bigger.
Texas Tech has a QB with a higher ceiling
After the unbelievable Brendan Sorsby saga this offseason, it's easy to understand why people outside the program might have questions about Texas Tech's quarterback situation.
Red Raider fans, however, know just how much potential Will Hammond possesses.
Behren Morton deserves plenty of credit for what he accomplished last season. He played the year with a hairline fracture in his leg, an injury that limited him from essentially the beginning of the season through the end. As a result, Tech got steady quarterback play, but Morton was never really able to showcase everything he could do.
Hammond presents a completely different possibility.
If he has truly put last season's torn knee ligament behind him, he could give the Red Raiders something they haven't had at quarterback since Patrick Mahomes II was running around Jones Stadium a decade ago: a player capable of consistently changing games with both his arm and his legs.
That's the part of Hammond's game that could make this offense so dangerous.
When everything around him breaks down, he doesn't necessarily have to throw the football away or take a sack. He can pull the ball down, escape the pocket, and pick up huge chunks of yardage. His running ability also gives the coaching staff another weapon to build into the offense and another problem for opposing defensive coordinators to worry about.
There are obviously questions.
Hammond doesn't have Morton's experience. He hasn't spent multiple seasons as Tech's starting quarterback, and nobody knows exactly how his knee will respond until he gets back into live action.
But we're talking about ceiling here, and Hammond's ceiling is extremely high.
If he stays healthy and comes close to maximizing his talent, Texas Tech could be significantly more explosive at quarterback in 2026 than it was last season.
This offensive line shouldn't get pushed around
Texas Tech's offensive line was good enough for most of the 2025 season.
Then came Oregon.
The 23-0 Orange Bowl loss provided a rather unpleasant reminder that there was still another level Tech needed to reach up front. The Ducks' defensive line controlled the game and manhandled the Red Raider offensive front in a way that Tech hadn't experienced very often during its Big 12 championship run.
That shouldn't happen nearly as easily to this year's group.
For one thing, the Red Raiders have gotten bigger on the interior.
Hunter Zambrano is set to take over at left guard after missing last season because of injury. His absence made it easy to forget just how highly regarded he was when he arrived as one of the nation's top offensive-line transfers during the 2025 offseason.
On the other side, Louisville transfer Jordan Church will step in at right guard. Church has made 15 career starts at guard and weighs almost 30 pounds more than Davion Carter, whom he's replacing.
That's some serious beef in the middle of the line.
More importantly, those two aren't being asked to join an inexperienced group. Tech returns starters at the other three offensive-line positions.
Howard Sampson is back at left tackle and appears rededicated heading into the season. Jacob Ponton returns at right tackle after gaining a full year of starting experience and earning honorable-mention All-Big 12 recognition last fall. Then there's Sheridan Wilson at center, where Tech has one of the best players in the country at his position.
On paper, this line doesn't have an obvious weak spot.
That's why there is reason to believe it could become one of the best offensive lines Texas Tech has fielded in the past two decades. If that happens, the entire offense changes.
Texas Tech's defensive depth is ridiculous
This is probably the biggest reason not to panic about all the defensive stars Tech lost.
Yes, Rodriguez, Bailey, Height, and Hunter were fantastic players. You don't simply replace guys like that and pretend nothing happened.
But the 2026 defense has something most Texas Tech defenses haven't had: ridiculous depth.
Start at defensive tackle.
AJ Holmes and Wake Forest transfer Mateen Ibirogba give Tech what should be one of the better starting combinations around. Then look behind them. Julien Laventure, Bryce Butler, and Jayden Cofield would have had a chance to start on almost any Red Raider defense of the past couple of decades.
Tech can legitimately go five deep at defensive tackle without putting someone on the field who looks out of place.
The edge-rusher room has a similar feel.
Adam Trick and Trey White are expected to lead the way, but former five-star signee LaDamion Guyton might be one of the most intriguing young players on the entire roster. Oregon State transfer Jojo Johnson and Ansel Nedroe give the Red Raiders even more athletic options to throw at opposing quarterbacks.
That means Tech won't necessarily have to rely on two or three defensive stars to play an absurd number of snaps every week.
The Red Raiders can rotate.
They can keep players fresh.
And when injuries inevitably happen over the course of a college football season, McGuire's defense should be far better equipped to absorb them than most teams.
That's what roster building is supposed to look like.
Maybe 2025 was just the start
Repeating what Texas Tech accomplished last season won't be easy. It shouldn't be. Winning championships is difficult, and the Red Raiders will enter 2026 with a target on their backs that simply wasn't there a year ago.
There are questions, especially at quarterback. There are also some enormous holes left behind by departed defensive stars.
But take a step back and look at the entire roster.
Tech might be better at quarterback. It should be bigger and better along the offensive line. And while the defense may not have as many household names, it could be deeper from top to bottom.
That's why expecting an automatic regression feels premature.
Last season proved that Joey McGuire has built a program capable of winning the Big 12 and reaching the College Football Playoff.
Now comes the really fun question.
What if the best Texas Tech team of the McGuire era isn't the one we just watched?
