The Future Of Texas Tech Football Depends On A Win Against BYU
The Red Raiders must win to keep their CFP hopes - and multi-year goals - alive.
Texas Tech has the most to lose — or gain — of any college football team this week.
At noon on Saturday, the Red Raiders will square off against fellow CFP-Top 10 opponent BYU on Fox. Forget all the over-hyped matchups in the SEC, this is the game every college football fan should make time for.
The Red Raiders are number eight, while the Cougars are number seven in the CFP rankings (the latter should be higher, but I digress). Texas Tech is 8-1, while BYU is undefeated. Both are looking to solidify their case as a surefire lock for a playoff spot.
But it's more important for the Red Raiders.
There’s the obvious reason: Texas Tech has a blemish on its resume, while BYU doesn’t. A two-loss Big 12 team isn’t going to make it in unless they win the conference title game, because the committee values conference affiliation over resume. And with how tight the top of the Big 12 is this year, the preseason conference title favorites could be sitting at home when the title game comes around.
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - OCTOBER 11: Behren Morton #2 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders passes the ball during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Jones AT&T Stadium on October 11, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Beyond this year, though, there’s more at stake.
The Red Raiders spent an absurd amount of money revamping their roster over the summer, with many rightfully questioning if this approach of buying the best players was going to work on the field. While their only loss came against Arizona State when starting quarterback Behren Morton was injured, it puts them in a spot where they have to win to make this investment worth it.
Think about it: how much of a morale killer would it be for donors, athletic directors, and all associated with the program if they spent millions on a roster to potentially not even make the conference title game? Who's going to want to give their money to a team that underperformed that badly?
Of course, some of these players will stick around in Lubbock for more than just this season. But it's going to be a massive momentum halter if Texas Tech can’t get the job done against BYU.
They need a win, and it couldn’t come against a tougher opponent. The season, and the near future, of Texas Tech will be determined by their result against the Cougars.