Texas Tech football named National Team of the Week after upsetting Cyclones

All season, the Texas Tech football team has had to struggle to gain any type of national attention. Even when the Red Raiders sat at 5-1 overall after a road win at Arizona, they couldn't work their way into the national polls.

Since then, Tech has gone just 1-2 with ugly losses to mediocre teams Baylor and TCU. However, thanks to Saturday's win at then-No. 10/11 Iowa State, the Red Raiders are starting to get a little bit of love.

No, the Red Raiders aren't ranked this week. What's more, they hardly received any votes in the latest polls. However, one entity is recognizing what head coach Joey McGuire and his team accomplished in Ames, Iowa.

The Football Writers Association of America has named the Texas Tech football team as the Cheez-It National Team of the Week this week. That is significant because it is the first time since 2012's win in Lubbock over No. 5 West Virginia that Tech has earned this award. Overall, the Red Raiders have received this honor five times in program history (the FWAA has been handing out this weekly award since 2002).

Each honored team will receive a custom Cheez-It "care package" along with a hand-crafted game ball made in America by Dallas-based Big Game USA. However, what's most important is that Tech has finally secured a win that opened eyes around the country.

This season, the Red Raiders are 6-3 overall, which is a nice place to be after nine games. However, there had been no wins over a ranked team to speak of nor had there been any wins over Big 12 contenders prior to beating Iowa State.

Therefore, many around the country had ignored Tech's strong start to the season. That's no longer the case though as Tech knocked off a top 10 team for the first time since the win over the Mountaineers 12 years ago.

Now, the task for McGuire and Co. is to follow up this win with another one that will garner national attention. No. 21 Colorado is set to come to Lubbock this Saturday in a game that will be broadcast nationally on FOX. What's more, the FOX Big Noon Kickoff pregame show will also be in Lubbock as part of this weekend's festivities.

If Tech can topple Coach Prime and the Buffaloes the way it did Iowa State, then people around the Big 12 and the nation will continue to take more notice of what's happening on the South Plains. Then, hopefully, the Red Raiders will get their due.