Is it technically possible for the Texas Tech football team to field not just one of the best defenses in the Big 12, but also one of the best defenses in the country? Apparently the fine folks over at Pro Football Focus seem to think so as Max Chadwick placed the Red Raiders defense at No. 10 in his recent rankings.
And I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around that one.
It’s not that I don’t believe in Texas Tech’s potential or that Chadwick knows what he talks about. I firmly believe that, because of all of the changes that have taken place in Lubbock on that side of the ball over the offseason, the Red Raiders might see some noteworthy improvements over there.
But a top 10 defense in the country for the Red Raiders? That’s something that just seems so foreign to me because of the way Texas Tech has prioritized offense (sometimes seemingly at the expense of its own defense) over the past couple decades.
Texas Tech’s defense weighs in at No. 10 in the country according to Pro Football Focus
Here’s what Chadwick’s top 10 list of the best defenses in the country ahead of the 2025 college football season looks like:
Top 10 Defenses in College Football💪 pic.twitter.com/O5VWuDtHJF
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 16, 2025
You’ve got a lot of conventional blue bloods and teams that generally thrive on that side of the ball. You’ve got teams who are certainly known for having a great defense. And then there’s the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who had a truly awful defense a season ago.
Texas Tech managed to hold defense to *checks notes* 34.8 points per game. Which, uh, seems bad. And it is bad! Really bad. That ranked in as the No. 122 scoring defense in the country last season! The Red Raiders weren’t good at defense a season ago!
Now, with a new defensive coordinator and a refreshed roster thanks to the transfer portal push, maybe we see that sort of drastic jump that Chadwick seems to think is possible. I think somewhere in the top 20 to 30 range is a lot more feasible (and even that seems a bit foreign to think about given Texas Tech’s recent defenses). We’ll see what happens.