The Texas Tech Red Raiders are having a phenomenal year under fourth-year head coach Joey McGuire. The Red Raiders are 11-1 on the season, reaching 11 wins for the first time since 2008.
Texas Tech also has a chance to win a Big 12 title for the very first time in school history entering conference championship weekend. Tech is ranked No. 4 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, which means a first-ever CFP bid is also on the table for the Red Raiders in 2025.
But with one game remaining for Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game against BYU, let's run through the CFP scenarios for the Red Raiders.
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Is Texas Tech in the College Football playoff?
As of right now, yes. Texas Tech ranks 4th in the second-to-last CFP rankings. Per the latest 12-team bracket, the committee has Texas Tech getting a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed. The Red Raiders would face the winner of the No. 12 vs. No. 5 seed matchup in the first round.
That means the committee expects Tech to defeat BYU on Saturday afternoon. The Red Raiders handed BYU its first and only loss earlier this season, winning handily at home 29-7.
Texas Tech is a 12.5-point favorite heading into Saturday's matchup against BYU.
However, while they're currently in, a loss would put that in serious jeopardy.
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Texas Tech playoff scenarios
Texas Tech wins Big 12 title game
- A win for Texas Tech would give the Red Raiders an automatic CFP bid as the Big 12 champion
- It would also likely give Tech a first-round bye, as one of the four highest-ranked conference champions
Texas Tech loses Big 12 title game
- A loss for Texas Tech may not knock the Red Raiders out entirely
- Finishing 11-2 could potentially still be good enough for the committee to give Tech a spot
The committee will have a tough decision to make if Texas Tech loses the Big 12 title game. Depending on how close the game is, Tech would still have an impressive resume with the loss. Texas Tech's other loss was a 26-22 road defeat to Arizona State on Oct. 18. Since then, the Red Raiders have won their last five games by a margin of 211-36, including a 29-7 win against then-No. 7 BYU.
The committee could deem an 11-2 Texas Tech team that played on conference championship weekend worthy of a spot over a few teams:
- No. 10 Notre Dame or No. 12 Miami, both of whom sat at home on conference championship weekend.
- A three-loss Virginia team, if five-loss Duk e wins the ACC title game
- A three-loss Alabama team, if the Tide fall to Georgia in the SEC title game
As you can see, the best chance for Texas Tech's playoff hopes is for the Red Raiders to defeat BYU again, like it did earlier in the season. If Tech loses, its playoff hopes aren't dead, but the Red Raiders no longer control their own destiny.
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