Following the Texas Tech football team's 35-24 come-from-behind road win over Oregon State on Saturday night, many Red Raider fans expected voters to drop Joey McGuire's team in the polls. However, we learned Sunday that the voters either didn't watch the Red Raiders in week two or they weren't as critical of how Tech played as most fans were.
In the newest set of rankings, released on Sunday, Tech essentially stayed put. In the Associated Press Poll, the Red Raiders held steady at No. 13, while in the AFCA Coaches Poll, they actually moved up one spot to No. 12 (where they began the season).
What's interesting, though, is that the A.P. voters no longer appear to think that Tech is the class of the Big 12. BYU has now jumped the Red Raiders as the Cougars moved up four spots to No. 11 after earning a home win over Arizona on Saturday.
The only other Big 12 teams in the top 25 are Utah, which checks in at No. 17 in both polls, and Houston (No. 22 in the A.P. and No. 23 in the Coaches). Oklahoma State, Arizona, and Kansas State all received votes in at least one poll.
At the top of the rankings, Texas is the new No. 1 team after the Horns' dramatic 20-point comeback win over Ohio State. Meanwhile, Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana, and Miami comprise the rest of the top five in both polls.
Texas Tech is not being watched closely by the pollsters
It is clear from the latest rankings that most of the voters are not watching the Red Raiders play. If they were, they wouldn't have McGuire's team in the top 12 or 13.
Nothing Tech has shown thus far is worthy of such a ranking. Tech was unimpressive in the season-opening win over Abilene Christian and showed a ton of warts in Corvallis on Saturday night.
Certainly, there are teams below the Red Raiders that have been more impressive this season. For example, 2-0 Tennessee sits at No. 15 in the A.P. and No. 14 in the Coaches Poll after demolishing FCS opponent Furman in week one and securing a 45-24 road win at Georgia Tech in week two.
Similarly, SMU should be ahead of Tech, instead of being just No. 16 in both polls. The Mustangs have a week-one win at Florida State and a week-two drubbing of UC Davis on their resume.
Even Utah has a better case to be a top-15 team than Tech. This week, the Utes humiliated Arkansas 43-10 in Salt Lake City, and last week, they throttled Idaho 66-14.
What Tech's ranking teaches us is that it is valuable to be highly regarded in the preseason. That's because perception continues to play a greater role in the polls than it should.
Voters can't watch every game. So while Tech was playing with its food against Abilene Christian and fighting for its life against Oregon State, the majority of the nation was watching more high-profile games, meaning the voters have not yet seen how pedestrian the Red Raiders have looked.
All eyes will be on Tech in week three, though, as the Red Raiders and Houston battle in the premier Friday night game. Therefore, we will likely see more movement for Tech in next week's polls. Hopefully, the arrow will be pointing up a week from now.
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