Week seven of the college football season provided pure chaos. Fortunately, Texas Tech took care of its business by manhandling Arizona State 53-25.
As a result, the Red Raiders find themselves as securely in the top ten as they have been all season long. In fact, in one poll, Tech is close to reaching the high point that the program achieved a season ago.
In the AFCA Coaches Poll, Tech checks in at No. 5. That's one spot below where the Red Raiders topped out in 2025. Meanwhile, in the A.P. poll, Tech sits at No. 8. That's a jump of two spots.
Saturday saw No. 1, No. 2, No. 5, No. 6, and No. 7 from last week's A.P. poll lose. What's more, Georgia and Texas (formerly No. 1 and No. 7) lost at home to unranked opponents.
As a result, the top of the rankings looks completely different heading into week eight. Miami is the new No. 1 team in both polls. In the A.P. BYU is No. 2, Ohio State is No. 3, Notre Dame dropped to No. 4, and Georgia fell to No. 5. The Coaches Poll has Ohio State, BYU, Georgia, and Tech in order behind Miami.
What's interesting is that the Big 12 is starting to make noise in the polls. This week, three Big 12 teams are in the top ten of both polls. Utah sits at No. 10 in the A.P. and No. 9 in the Coaches Poll.
No. 8 in the AP 📈 pic.twitter.com/ciTVBOwRBm
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) October 18, 2026
Other ranked teams from the conference include Houston (No. 14 in the A.P. and No. 16 in the Coaches) and Arizona (No. 25 in the A.P.). Meanwhile, Texas, which lost at home to unranked Florida, fell from No. 7 to No. 19 in the A.P. poll. That was the largest drop of the week by any team.
Of course, the polls don't carry the weight that they used to, but they are important when it comes to the perception of teams. For Tech, it is advantageous to be ranked as high as possible before the College Football Playoff Selection Committee begins to release its rankings in November. That's because the polls always influence observers of the sport, and a high ranking usually leads to a lofty spot in the Playoff Committee's rankings.
It has been hard for Tech to move up, though, because they have faced only one ranked opponent this year. However, if chaos continues to define the sport, and Tech avoids being part of that trend, then the Red Raiders will remain in a great spot for the home stretch of the season.
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