Texas Tech identified as defining game of 2026 for Big 12 team with a brand coach

Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders accomplished so much in 2025. It was a meteoric rise, fueled by a great combination of transfer portal additions, retention in some key areas, and then the hiring of new coordinators to bring in some impressive forms of schematic innovation. 

Top to bottom, Texas Tech thrived last season. And as a result, the Red Raiders may have ruffled a few feathers here and there. I mean, I’m not going to say that Texas Tech for sure upset some folks, but it really seems like Texas Tech upset some folks. 

They won the Big 12 for the first time ever, proved that a have-not sort of program can make it to the College Football Playoff, and won a dozen games in the process. And people are now paying very close attention to Texas Tech. Going into the 2026 college football season, the Red Raiders are going to be on a lot of folks’ radars.

As ESPN notes, Texas Tech is going to be a team that will draw plenty of attention, especially for folks in the Big 12. Texas Tech is being labeled as a team that will play a part in a defining game for some folks on their schedules next season, including the Oklahoma State Cowboys. 

ESPN commentator labels Texas Tech as Oklahoma State’s defining game for the 2026 college football season

Bill Connelly over at ESPN is pointing to this game and labeling it as a bit of a test for Eric Morris as he works to do a complete and total rebuild of the Oklahoma State Cowboys football program. What Texas Tech did last season is what Oklahoma State is seemingly trying to emulate in some ways.

Morris is getting the distinct pleasure of inheriting a team that is a complete and total mess. And for the Cowboys, they just hired an incredibly innovative coach who comes from Texas Tech’s Air Raid coaching tree as he played for Mike Leach.

It’ll definitely be worth keeping an eye on this game and making sure you have a chance to watch it. Morris coaching against his alma mater is just one angle that makes this one so much fun. The total rebuild effort that the Cowboys are embarking upon is another.