Despite a historic Big 12 title and playoff debut, the Red Raiders remain snubbed by national rankings, fueling Joey McGuire’s squad to prove their elite status.
A trip to the College Football Playoff is supposed to cement a program among the nation's elite. That's why Texas Tech's omission from USA Today's recent ranking of the top 25 college football programs is one of the more surprising decisions on the list.
After reaching the CFP for the first time in school history during the 2025 season, the Red Raiders appeared to have earned a place among college football's rising powers.
The ranking attempts to identify the sport's premier programs by looking at sustained success, championship pedigree, and overall standing in college football. Schools such as Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia and Texas understandably headline the list given their recent accomplishments.
However, leaving Texas Tech completely outside the top 25 is difficult to justify considering what Joey McGuire has built in Lubbock.
The Red Raiders didn't simply sneak into the playoff field. They won the Big 12 Championship, finished the regular season with a 12-1 record, and secured the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff, earning a coveted first-round bye.
Critics may point to Texas Tech's lopsided loss to Oregon in the playoff quarterfinals as a reason to pump the brakes. While the defeat was disappointing, one postseason result shouldn't erase everything the Red Raiders accomplished over the previous four months. Plenty of established national powers have suffered ugly playoff losses while maintaining their status among the sport's elite.
Perhaps the biggest factor working against Texas Tech is the program's historical resume compared to schools that have won multiple national championships over several decades.
Even so, rankings like these should acknowledge current trajectory as much as past accomplishments. McGuire has transformed the Red Raiders into Big 12 champions, playoff participants, and a legitimate destination for elite talent in a relatively short amount of time.
Whether the omission becomes bulletin-board material remains to be seen, but it certainly gives Texas Tech another reason to play with a chip on its shoulder entering the 2026 season.
The Red Raiders proved last fall that they belong on college football's biggest stage. If they can follow up their historic playoff appearance with another championship-caliber campaign, leaving them off future rankings will become nearly impossible.
