Why Texas Tech is the dark horse team of the 2025 College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff is just around the corner, and the field feels as open as ever heading into the postseason. As usual, the Big Ten and SEC dominated the field, combining to have eight of the 12 teams in the 2025 College Football Playoff.

The Miami Hurricanes were the most controversial addition to the field, not because they don’t necessarily deserve to make the Playoff, but rather the fashion in which the committee placed them in the field. The next two controversial additions? The two Group of 5 teams that made it over the ACC Champ Duke Blue Devils. There has been plenty of conversation about the final bracket and decisions made.

However, one team in the field has been perhaps the least talked about and examined team: The Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The Red Raiders have somewhat flown under the radar this year, in part because of their clear dominance in the Big 12, but also because of the program’s history (never finished in the Top 10). But, make no mistake: they’re a very real contender for the College Football Playoff.

And it all starts with the most important area in football: The Trenches.

Texas Tech billionaire donor Cody Campbell helped fund what has turned out to be the best defensive front in college football, bringing in transfer defensive linemen David Bailey, Romello Height, Skylar Gill-Howard, Lee Hunter and A.J. Holmes Jr. to join incumbent linebackers Jacob Rodriguez and Ben Roberts.

That group has spearheaded an elite season from the Red Raiders, as Texas Tech ranks top five in success rate allowed (third), yards allowed per play (third), rushing yards allowed per game (first), and yards allowed per carry (second). Then comes the sack production, with David Bailey being second in the country and Romello Height adding nine of his own.

That defense has the star power and the production against both the run and the pass to be a sustainable force in the Playoff.

Then comes an offense that has been on a tear over the last few weeks, averaging nearly 41 points a contest over the second half of the season. That includes 63 points in two contests against top-15 BYU.

Looking deeper offensively, the Red Raiders top 10 in yards per game (462.7 yards per game). They’re elite on third downs (seventh in college football at 49.75 percent conversion rate). They’re fourth in points per game (40.4 points a contest). They’re a top-15 passing attack (284.5 yards a game), a top-40 rushing attack (178.2 yards per game), and have a good, dependable quarterback in Behren Morton.

When you look at the Red Raiders on paper, they just don’t have many (if any) holes on their roster. Texas Tech is elite everywhere defensively with the star power to show for it. They’re multiple offensively with a good passing attack and a complementary rushing attack.

And they have a bye week before facing the winner of the No. 5 Oregon Ducks and the No. 12 James Madison Dukes (although bye weeks weren’t very helpful last year). Of course, that doesn’t mean Texas Tech is a guarantee to make it to the National Championship game. They’ll be facing their toughest competition of the year and will need to show up again in the big moments.

But, in a year dominated by Big Ten and SEC teams, the one Big 12 team in the picture could be the dark horse in this year’s College Football Playoff and don’t be surprised if you see them making a run.