National Polls Do Not Think Highly Of Texas Tech Football

As the football season inches closer, publications are releasing their rankings for every college team and it seems that most have low expectations for Texas Tech.

College football teams are back on campus and have begun preparing for the upcoming season in earnest. However, fans are still weeks away from seeing their schools in action leaving them with a craving for anything that might indicate how strong their team will be.

So to satisfy those cravings, media outlets have begun to rank every team in the country. Texas Tech fans are not shocked to see the Red Raiders nowhere near the top 25 but they may be a bit surprised to see where the Red Raiders fall among the 129 FBS teams.

One of the publications that has the lowest opinion of the Red Raiders is the Orlando Sentinel, which has Tech ranked No. 73 in the nation. The Sentinel has Tech one spot ahead of Minnesota and two spots in front of Oregon. Meanwhile, the USF Bulls, who knocked off Tech in the 2017 Birmingham Bowl, sit at No. 72.

"About Texas Tech, The Sentinel says, “The Red Raiders coaching staff went through some dramatic changes during the offseason with five new hires. For the first time in recent memory, Texas Tech enters a season with a lot of uncertainty on of the offensive side of the football…The Red Raiders may end up fielding one of the best defenses of Kingsbury’s tenure.”"

Meanwhile, the Red Raiders are more highly regarded by other publications. The USA Today ranked Tech at No. 51 back in May which is where it also checks in on the Massey Ratings.

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Of the more well-known media outlets, CBSSports.com has Texas Tech ranked no. 58. While that ranking is in line with what most other publications have for Tech, what is a bit surprising is some of the teams that Tech sits behind. CBSSports has Tech ranked lower than Appalachian State (57), Marshal (56), Arkansas State (54), Temple (52) and Toledo (49).

RealTimeRPI.com has Texas Tech slotted at No. 62 in between No. 61 Florida International and No. 63 Missouri. In the Athlon rankings, Tech checks in slightly lower at No. 64.

In these six polls, the Red Raiders average ranking is 60th. That is not an inspiring statistic as it would suggest that most expect Tech to be around a 6-6 team once again.

Should that come to fruition, it would be a disaster for AD Kirby Hocutt who would have to make a tough choice about the future of head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Fortunately, the polls are just predictions and most national experts’ opinions are not rooted in a strong knowledge of what the program has in the pipeline as far a new additions.

Assuming that these voters are taking the time to really study what Texas Tech well enough to make a strong prediction would be a mistake. Rather, outside of the top 25, these rankings are useless in every way other than providing bulletin board material for teams that might feel overlooked.

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With an average ranking of No. 60 and sitting behind a handful of non-power five schools, Tech could certainly feel like they are not being respected by those outside of Lubbock. The good news is that in three weeks, they can begin the process of earning that respect.

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