Very optimistic and exceedingly hopeful Texas Tech football fans probably aren’t going to love that Athlon Sports’ preseason bowl projections don’t have the Red Raiders making it into the College Football Playoffs this season, but at least the Red Raiders aren’t one of the five Big 12 teams that Athlon Sports is projecting to miss a bowl game.
That said, just because the good folks over at Athlon Sports don’t expect the Red Raiders in the College Football Playoffs doesn’t mean that they don’t have the Big 12 being totally out of the playoff picture. Shoutout to Kansas State, who is supposedly equipped to make it to the first round of the playoffs this year.
And it’s worth noting that Athlon Sports does have Texas Tech making it to a solid bowl game. Right now, ahead of the start of the 2025 season, Athlon has the Red Raiders facing off against the USC Trojans in the Alamo Bowl, which would be an interesting matchup.
College football bowl projections: Texas Tech among the 11 Big 12 teams slated to make a bowl game according to Athlon Sports
As for the teams that aren’t set to go bowling, per these preseason bowl projections, we’ve got the following teams missing out on the postseason fun:
- Arizona Wildcats
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- UCF Knights
- West Virginia Mountaineers
And here’s the folks that are set to go bowling, per Athlon Sports:
- Arizona State Sun Devils vs. Illinois in the Las Vegas Bowl
- Baylor Bears vs. Louisville in the Pop-Tarts Bowl
- BYU Cougars vs. Army in the Armed Forces Bowl
- Colorado Buffaloes vs. UNLV in the LA Bowl
- Houston Cougars vs. Air Force in the First Responder Bowl
- Iowa State Cyclones vs. Oklahoma in the Texas Bowl
- Kansas Jayhawks vs. Auburn in the Liberty Bowl
- Kansas State Wildcats vs. Notre Dame in the College Football Playoffs
- TCU Horned Frogs vs. Minnesota in the Rate Bowl
- Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. USC in the Alamo Bowl
- Utah Utes vs. Duke in the Sun Bowl
That’s a pretty solid draw for the Big 12 all across the board and it’d be fascinating to see some of these bowl games play out.