Texas Tech

2-0AP #13
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Big 12 · Joey McGuire, year 5 (37-18) · Jones AT&T Stadium · 60,454 · 60,229 avg in 2026

The nationAP #13 · Coaches #12no change
The model#8 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #14 (+18.9) · FPI #16
The marketTexas Tech by 7.5vs Houston · our model 69% Texas Tech · a number, not a pick

LastW 35–24 at Oregon State · Sat Sep 12 · Ben Roberts 1 sacks, 1.5 TFL, 10 tackles

Nextvs Houston · Fri Sep 18 · 8 pm ET · Jones AT&T Stadium · Texas Tech by 7.5 · series 17-18-1, won the last 7 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist staturePower Program III#44 all-time– holding
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 76-73 12 seasons
Best season 12-2 2025
Top-10 finishes 1 AP polled only
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 4-8 '15 7-6 '16 5-7 '17 6-7 '18 5-7 '19 4-8 '20 4-6 '21 6-6 '22 8-5 '23 7-6 '24 8-5 '25 12-2

Texas Tech's 2014–2025 record is 76-73. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.510
Ranked seasons (AP)
3/12
Best AP finish
#4

Program outlook

Texas Tech spent thirty years as the most entertaining team in the Big 12 that never won the league. In December 2025, the Red Raiders routed BYU 34-7 for the program's first conference title. Then Oregon shut them out 23-0 in the Playoff. Both things are true.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The Air Raid was born in Lubbock. Mike Leach arrived in 2000 and turned a remote West Texas school into the most prolific passing offense in college football, an offensive philosophy that reshaped how the entire sport plays. What Leach didn't win was the Big 12. Patrick Mahomes put up video-game numbers here from 2014 to 2016. Michael Crabtree's last-second catch beat No. 1 Texas in 2008, one of the sport's iconic moments. But the conference title — the thing that separates a fun program from a serious one — stayed out of reach for a generation.

Joey McGuire's fourth season changed the argument entirely. Backed by Cody Campbell's collective and a roster reported north of $28 million, Texas Tech went 12-2 in 2025, won the Big 12 championship game with a 34-7 rout of BYU, and reached the College Football Playoff. Behren Morton threw for 3,335 yards and 27 touchdowns. The league title is in the trophy case, real and permanent, whatever Oregon's 23-0 shutout in the quarterfinal says about the distance to the sport's top tier.

The 2026 question is sustainability. One faction reads the title as a new standard — McGuire is extended, the infrastructure is built, and Lubbock is a destination now. The other reads the spending as a top-of-market buy that the collective won't maintain at the same level two years running. The Crabtree catch proved Texas Tech could beat the best on a given day. The championship proved it could win a league. The 2026 season is the first data point on whether both can hold.

On the field

Air Raid gunslinger, championship edition — the wide-open, pass-happy, fearless offense that Leach built is still the spine, now paired under McGuire with the roster depth that a heavily-funded collective can assemble. Morton operates from the pocket in a spread system that creates mismatches through tempo and pre-snap motion. Jones AT&T Stadium is loud, weird, and tortilla-stained — one of the sport's most distinctive home environments, now with a conference banner to hang above it.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Texas Tech

Texas Tech has won 54% of its games since 1926 — 66% at home, 42% on the road.

591-471-24 all-time · 101 seasons · 1926–2026

Home 366-176-13
Away 202-264-10
Neutral 23-31-1
7 g 1920s
68% 1930s
57% 1940s
46% 1950s
46% 1960s
60% 1970s
43% 1980s
54% 1990s
66% 2000s
48% 2010s
62% 2020s

Coaching Era · Texas Tech

Joey McGuire

Joey McGuire has held the program for 5 seasons — the era is established.

Era Joey McGuire · 2022–presentPrev: Matt Wells (2019–2021)OC: Mack LeftwichPrev OC: Zach Kittley (2022–2024)DC: Shiel Wood / co-Rob GreenePrev DC: Shiel Wood (2025)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
5 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

2008

The Crabtree catch

Michael Crabtree's last-second touchdown beats No. 1 Texas — the most famous moment in program history

2025

The first Big 12 title

A 34-7 rout of BYU delivers Texas Tech's first conference championship and a Playoff bid

2025

The Orange Bowl CFP loss

Oregon shuts out Texas Tech 23-0 in the Playoff quarterfinal — the title run's hard ceiling

Heartbreak

Moment of the season — so far · Texas Tech · 2026

Won 33-10 vs Abilene Christian

Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2026

Texas Tech has sent 16 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — 2 of them in the first round.

Strong. 2 first-round picks. Recruits with NFL ambitions notice.

16 picks · 2 in round 1
#2 David Bailey Defensive Edge · 2026 · New York · #1/583 final season
#7 Tyree Wilson Defensive End · 2023 · Las Vegas · #51/548 final season
#43 Jacob Rodriguez Linebacker · 2026 · Miami · #10/583 final season
#59 all-time · 10 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Program factsStadium, mascot, and the vitals that don't change season to season.
Program résumé
1CFP apps
Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 2-0 · AP #13

Texas Tech is 13th in the AP poll at 2-0 — a top-15 team.

Top 15 nationally. NY6-bowl conversation.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Joey McGuire2022
  • Hired Sonny Cumbie2021
  • Matt Wells departs13-17, 3 seasons
  • Sonny Cumbie departs2-3, 1 season
  • Hired Matt Wells2019
  • Kliff Kingsbury departs35-40, 6 seasons
  • Hired Kliff Kingsbury2013
  • Tommy Tuberville departs20-17, 3 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Texas Tech’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2017 · Eric Morris2018 · Kevin Johns / co-Clay McGuire2019–2020 · David Yost2021 · Sonny Cumbie2022–2024 · Zach Kittley2025–2026 · Mack Leftwich
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · co-Mike Smith / Matt Wallerstedt (2nd season; first 3 games)2015 · David Gibbs / co-Mike Smith2016–2017 · David Gibbs2018 · David Gibbs / co-Zac Spavital2019 · Keith Patterson2020–2021 · co-Derek Jones / Keith Patterson2022–2024 · Tim DeRuyter2025 · Shiel Wood2026 · Shiel Wood / co-Rob Greene
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Guns Up

since 1972

more

The 'Guns Up' hand sign — index finger and thumb extended in a pistol gesture — is the Texas Tech fan identity marker. Used as greeting between alumni, raised during touchdowns, photographed at every campus event. Texas's 'Hook 'em Horns' is more famous, but 'Guns Up' is just as universal among Red Raiders.

Tortilla Throwing

since 1980s

more

Red Raider fans throw tortillas onto the field after kickoffs — a tradition dating to the 1980s tortilla-pricing-protest era. The university has alternately discouraged + tolerated; tradition survives. Visiting team players cite it as one of the strangest stadium experiences in the Big 12.

Mike Leach Era Legacy

since 2000

more

Mike Leach's tenure (2000-2009) defined the program — the Air Raid offense, the 2008 Crabtree catch, multiple top-25 finishes. The 2009 firing (dispute over a player's medical care) didn't erase the Air Raid identity, which became permanent program DNA. The 2022 Leach death (at Mississippi State) was mourned as a Texas Tech tragedy.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2015-2025): 3-4

Most recent: 2025 — loss 0-23 (home). Last 5 postseason: 3-2.

20252024202320222021
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

1.9k
[Postgame Thread] Texas Tech Defeats BYU 29-7
Nov 2025 · r/cfb
782
[Postgame Thread] Texas Tech Defeats Abilene Christian 52-51 (OT)
Sep 2024 · r/cfb
647
[Postgame Thread] TCU Defeats Texas Tech 34-24
Nov 2022 · r/cfb

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