Despite award snubs for Joey McGuire and Texas Tech's high-powered offense, the Red Raiders cleaned up on defense in the 2025 All-Big 12 honors haul.
The Big 12 handed out its annual all-conference awards this week, and few programs were more visible than the No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders.
After an 11-1 regular season and an 8-1 run through Big 12 play that booked a trip to Arlington and put them in the driver's seat for a College Football Playoff first-round bye, scarlet and black were plastered all over the ballot.
Somehow, the league still found a way to poke the bear.
Despite captaining the conference's top-ranked team, Joey McGuire was passed over for Chuck Neinas Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in favor of BYU's Kalani Sitake.
And the Big 12's most explosive offense, top four in both total yards and points per game, didn't land a single first-team selection.
Texas Tech's defense, though, turned the awards into a full-on raid.
Six Red Raiders earned All-Big 12 First-Team recognition: defensive linemen David Bailey, Romello Height, and Lee Hunter, linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, defensive back Brice Pollock, and kicker Stone Harrington.
That front bullied the conference all season, leading the Big 12 in rushing yards allowed per game and ranking sixth nationally in sacks. Height posted 8.5 sacks, fourth in the league, while Bailey led both the Big 12 and FBS with 12.5.
Bailey's dominance made him an easy pick for Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year and Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Stanford.
Height (via Georgia Tech) and Hunter (via UCF) joined him as portal hits who turned Tech’s line into a weekly problem.
Behind them, Rodriguez did everything.
The linebacker stacked 101 tackles (third in the Big 12), seven forced fumbles (first), and a team-high six passes defensed on his way to Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, delivering on his preseason hype and nudging into Heisman dark-horse territory.
Pollock added five interceptions to edge Rodriguez for the conference lead.
Special teams got love too, with Harrington drilling 18 field goals, including three from 50-plus and a 58-yarder, while finishing tied for fifth in Big 12 scoring.
The offense was pushed to the second and third teams, but its footprint is obvious.
Running back Cameron Dickey, receiver Caleb Douglas, and tight end Terrance Carter Jr. made the second team, while a wave of linemen, defenders, and specialists filled out third-team and honorable-mention spots.
Now Texas Tech gets a cleaner shot at respect in Saturday's Big 12 title game against Sitake’s BYU Cougars at AT&T Stadium, with a trophy - and a playoff bye - on the line.