Red Raiders enter top 10 of both AP, AFCA polls
October 05, 2025 | Football
Texas Tech is the only team in college football this season with at least five wins by 24 points
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech moved into the top 10 of both major polls Sunday fresh off its 35-11 victory over Houston, jumping to No. 9 in the latest Associate Press rankings and then No. 10 in the AFCA coaches poll compiled by USA Today.
This is the highest the Red Raiders have ranked in either poll since Oct. 20, 2013, when Texas Tech rolled off its seventh-consecutive victory to start its season under first-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury. The Red Raiders were ranked No. 9 that week in the coaches' poll and then No. 10 by the AP. It is the highest ranking in the AP poll for the Red Raiders since Dec. 7, 2008, when Texas Tech went into an eventual appearance in the Cotton Bowl at No. 8 nationally.
Texas Tech's current 5-0 start is its best since that 2013 season as the Red Raiders are one of 15 undefeated teams in all of college football entering Saturday's annual Homecoming game against Kansas. Of that group, the Red Raiders (5-0; 2-0) are the only team to win every game by at least a 20-point margin.
In fact, Texas Tech enters this weekend as the only team in the country to win at least five games by 24 points this season as the Red Raiders are only the fourth Big 12 school to start a season on a similar streak, joining the likes of Texas (2008), Oklahoma (2008) and Baylor (2015). In its history, Texas Tech has not started a season with five-consecutive victories by at least 24 points or more previously.
When the point differential is dropped to only 20 points, this is the first time since the 1953-54 seasons the Red Raiders have won five-straight games by at least that margin. Texas Tech closed the 1953 season with five-straight wins by 20 or more points and then opened the 1954 campaign with a 41-9 victory at Texas A&M and a 33-7 win over West Texas State. The Red Raiders set the Texas Tech single-season record with nine of their 11 victories in 1953 coming by 20 or more points
The voters have noticed as Texas Tech has gone from No. 23 to start the season to the top 10 following its victory over Houston, its second on the road to start Big 12 play. The Red Raiders, who knocked off another previously-unbeaten team in Utah, 34-10, to start the Big 12 schedule, had opened conference play with consecutive road wins only once previously, which came in 1976 when Texas Tech shared the Southwest Conference title with a 7-1 league record, finishing 10-2 overall under Steve Sloan.
The Red Raiders will welcome Kansas (4-2; 2-1) for their Big 12 home opener in front of a sellout crowd Saturday inside Jones AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. with coverage provided nationally on FOX and the Texas Tech Sports Network.