Texas Tech Stuck at No. 13 in AP Poll Despite Ranked Win Over Arizona

LUBBOCK -- Texas Tech got over the bitter taste of its defeat to Cincinnati with a Halloween treat in the form of a win against No. 22 Arizona 36-24 in Lubbock.

Off the efforts of Thomas Castellanos starting at quarterback, the Red Raiders found new life and rallied past the Wildcats in the second half to claim their second ranked win of the year.

While the victory was sweet for the Red Raiders, it did not seem to curb the appetite of the voters in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.

In the latest release of their rankings on Sunday afternoon, voters chose to keep Texas Tech at No. 13 with a total of 931 votes.

Despite the impressive win over Arizona, which remained ranked at No. 24 in a two-spot decline, there was little surprise amongst the teams above Texas Tech to enable a notable rise.

Ohio State had the unfortunate honor of being the lone member of the top 12 to take a loss after USC conquered them in Los Angeles 30-18 without Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin available.

READ MORE: Texas Tech Climbs In Coaches Poll After Arizona Win, But Is No. 13 Enough?

That upset did send them tumbling down, with a nine-slot slide from No. 2 to No. 11 for the Buckeyes. But it still was not enough to push them behind the Red Raiders, at least in the mind of voters.

Regardless of any potential disrespect levied upon Texas Tech, the Big 12 continued to be highly valued as whole by the poll.

Outside of the Red Raiders and Wildcats, three other teams cracked the top 25 to bring the conference to a total of five representatives.

Utah broke into the top five for the first time after embarrassing Cincinnati, as the unbeaten Utes are now No. 3.

BYU inched up to No. 7 ahead of a marquee matchup with Utah this Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Finally, Houston rose one spot to No. 17 and did it without stepping foot on the field, as the Cougars were on their bye week.

In a tough break for Texas Tech, Oklahoma State crashed out of the poll after being upset 51-49 by Iowa State.

The Red Raiders are set to visit Stillwater one week from Saturday and the Cowboys could have offered a third ranked win to Texas Tech before losing to Cyclones.

READ MORE: Texas Tech D-Line Won The Battle In The Trenches En Route To 5 Sacks Against Arizona

However, former Red Raider and Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris may be able to will his squad back into the rankings ahead of the matchup on Nov. 14.

Texas Tech could also wait and see what the College Football Playoff Selection Committee thinks about itself, and also the Cowboys, as the first batch of rankings from the group will roll out on Tuesday.

Regardless of what the AP, Coaches or even CFP Committee think of Texas Tech, the Red Raiders sit at 7-1 and have positioned themselves to be in the thick of the Big 12 race coming down the stretch.

The road back to Arlington resumes with another home date this weekend, with West Virginia heading to Galaxy Stadium for an 8:30 p.m. CT kickoff against the Red Raiders.

If Texas Tech can earn another convincing win over the Mountaineers, it may be enough to land the Red Raiders back in the good graces of the powers that be within college football, especially with so many other chances for chaos to reign next weekend.