Texas Tech's offseason moves mirror a national title contender's formula. Discover how the Red Raiders are building their championship future, one strategic step at a time.
Texas Tech’s season didn’t end the way preseason national-title chatter said it should. And yet, calling it a disappointment misses the point entirely.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders just bulldozed a deep Big 12, won the league, and posted the first 12-win season in program history.
The problem is that expectations grow faster than reality, especially in the new 12-team College Football Playoff era, where logic has already been thrown out the window.
Since the expansion, the top four seeds are a combined 1-7 in the second round. Texas Tech learned that lesson the hard way, running into a No. 5-seeded Oregon buzzsaw and getting blanked after averaging over 40 points per game.
It stung, sure, especially considering Oregon became just the third team all season to score more than 20 points against a Red Raider defense ranked third nationally.
But here’s the part Tech fans shouldn’t ignore ... the team now playing for the national championship followed a remarkably similar script.
Last year, the Miami Hurricanes were supposed to be the team.
A 9-0 start, a top-four ranking, and a clear path to the Playoff. Then came the stumble. Miami lost two of its final three regular-season games and missed the Playoff entirely. Season over. Window closed. Or so it seemed.
Instead of panicking, Mario Cristobal doubled down. Miami attacked the portal, landed the No. 1 quarterback available in Carson Beck, and assembled a top-three transfer class.
Beck rewarded that faith by going 8-1 down the stretch and authoring one of the latest game-winning touchdowns in CFP history.
Sound familiar?
Because Texas Tech just followed the same roadmap with Brendan Sorsby.
Sorsby isn’t just a portal splash, he’s a statement. A $5 million NIL investment later, Tech has a 6-3, 235-pound dual-threat who threw for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns, and only five picks in 2025.
He can beat you from the pocket, off-script, or with his legs; with nearly 1,300 rushing yards over three seasons tends to do that.
Now layer in the schedule.
Three manageable non-conference games. No Kansas State, Utah, or BYU. Home dates with contenders. Tough road tests, yes, but nothing insurmountable.
The blueprint worked for Miami. Tech just copied it with West Texas swagger.