Texas Tech Football Rides High In Way-Too-Early Rankings For 2026 Season
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The Texas Tech Red Raiders had the season of a lifetime in 2025, resulting in their first conference championship in over 30 years and a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.
Powered by the defensive trio of edge rusher David Bailey and linebackers Jacob Rodriguez and Ben Roberts, the Red Raiders put together a 12-2 record, asserting themselves as the top team in the Big 12 Conference.
Now, with Bailey and Rodriguez heading for the NFL and Brendan Sorsby taking over for Behren Morton at quarterback, some changes will be made to the team, as is typical for the offseason, but according to ESPN analyst Josh Pate, there shouldn't be much of a change in terms of success for the team to start out in 2026.
Texas Tech Ranks In Top Dozen of Josh Pate's Way-Too-Early Rankings
In the analyst's early rankings, Tech was ranked the highest of the four Big 12 teams on the list, directly in 12th behind the USC Trojans and ahead of the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The other teams from the conference were the BYU Cougars in No. 14, the Houston Cougars at No. 18, and the Utah Utes at No. 19.
The list was topped by two controversially non-CFP teams in the 2025 season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Texas Longhorns, followed by the reigning national champion Indiana Hoosiers and two more Big 10 schools, Ohio State and Oregon, rounding out the top five.
The LSU Tigers and Penn State Nittany Lions were both ranked No. 10 and No. 15, respectively, as both look to make turnarounds to their dismal 2025 seasons with new and highly touted head coaches.
The Southeastern Conference had the most representation, with nine teams cracking the list led by Texas at No. 2, followed closely by Georgia, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and LSU.
Here is Pate's full top 25 list:
1) Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2) Texas Longhorns
3) Indiana Hoosiers
4) Ohio State Buckeyes
5) Oregon Ducks
6) Miami Hurricanes
7) Georgia Bulldogs
8) Texas A&M Aggies
9) Oklahoma Sooners
10) LSU Tigers
11) USC Trojans
12) Texas Tech Red Raiders
13) Alabama Crimson Tide
14) BYU Cougars
15) Penn State Nittany Lions
16) Ole Miss Rebels
17) Michigan Wolverines
18) Houston Cougars
19) Utah Utes
20) SMU Mustangs
21) Missouri Tigers
22) Iowa Hawkeyes
23) Vanderbilt Commodores
24) Louisville Cardinals
25) Washington Huskies
The Red Raiders open up their 2026 slate on September 5 with a hosting of Abilene Christian in Lubbock.
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Aaron Raley is a writer covering the Texas Tech On SI. Born and raised in Northeast Texas, Aaron earned a degree from Texas A&M University in journalism, with minors in history and sports management. Aaron’s writing abilities are driven by his love and passion for various sports, both at the collegiate and professional levels, as well as his experience in playing sports, especially baseball and football.
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