ESPN doubts Texas Tech: Red Raiders snubbed in Big 12 forecast

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Using the FPI (Football Power Index), ESPN has predicted the final record for all Big 12 teams. The results did not come out as Texas Tech fans had hoped, but overall, they showed the parity within the Big 12. That parity shows how wide open the race for the Big 12 crown is.
Morrison has the Kansas State Wildcats as the "class" of the Big 12, predicting them to win 8.6 games. You then have to go all the way to the number nine team, the Iowa State Cyclones, before you fall below a predicted seven-win total. The Red Raiders came in fourth with an expected total of 7.9 wins.
- Kansas State - 8.6 wins
- Arizona State - 8.3 wins
- BYU - 8.0 wins
- Texas Tech - 7.9 wins
- Kansas - 7.9 wins
- Baylor - 7.2 wins
- TCU - 7.2 wins
- UCF - 7.2 wins
- Iowa State - 6.7 wins
- Colorado - 6.5 wins
- Utah - 6.4 wins
- Cincinnati - 6.4 wins
- Oklahoma State - 5.5 wins
- West Virginia - 5.2 wins
- Arizona - 4.9 wins
- Houston - 4.8 wins

The Red Raiders have much higher aspirations than 7-8 wins for the 2025-2026 campaign. With an incredible transfer portal class that some analysts ranked as the best in the country, and a returning veteran leader at quarterback in Behren Morton, Tech is shooting to shock the world this fall. Head coach Joey McGuire believes his team can win the Big 12 and compete for a spot in the newly expanded College Football Playoff.
“It’s time to win,” McGuire told On3. “Is there more pressure this year? 100 percent. But I’d rather be in this situation. I’d rather be in the situation I’m in than being the guy who is like, ‘man, we have to have a lot of stuff go our way.’ There are teams deeper than others where you can withstand some things, where in the past we couldn’t sustain them. We couldn’t handle losing our left guard last year because we basically had six linemen who could play at this level and now we have nine. I love where we’re at. I’m telling you, this is better.”
If the Red Raiders live up to the expectations currently in Lubbock, it would be a significant improvement on what the ESPN FPI says about Texas Tech in 2025.

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Jerred Johnson has served in the United States military for over 23 years. He has a Bachelors in Marketing, a Masters in Management and is in the final phases of completing his Doctorate in Business Administration.