The Texas Tech Red Raiders have made their way into the top 5 of ESPN’s Football Power Index. That’s really, truly impressive stuff. I don’t think folks nationally have really stopped to take a minute and note how good Texas Tech might actually be this season.
The Red Raiders truly look like a national title contender right now and ESPN’s FPI rankings tend to agree.
ESPN FPI rankings: Texas Tech climbs up to No. 5 after the Red Raiders ran right over the West Virginia Mountaineers in Week 14
This is what the top 25 teams in the ESPN FPI rankings looks like after week 14’s Texas Tech dominant road win over the West Virginia Mountaineers:
- No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes
- No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers
- No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- No. 4 Oregon Ducks
- No. 5 Texas Tech Red Raiders
- No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide
- No. 7 Miami Hurricanes
- No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs
- No. 9 Utah Utes
- No. 10 Texas A&M Aggies
- No. 11 USC Trojans
- No. 12 Ole Miss Rebels
- No. 13 Texas Longhorns
- No. 14 Vanderbilt Commodores
- No. 15 BYU Cougars
- No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners
- No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions
- No. 18 Tennessee Volunteers
- No. 19 Michigan Wolverines
- No. 20 Iowa Hawkeyes
- No. 21 Missouri Tigers
- No. 22 Washington Huskies
- No. 23 South Florida Bulls
- No. 24 SMU Mustangs
- No. 25 LSU Tigers
It is so refreshing to see the Red Raiders getting the sort of respect that they deserve. And that’s not just a comment aimed at the math crunching, number munching computer stuff that goes into determining ESPN’s Football Power Index, but it doesn’t exclude this set of rankings either.
Across the board, folks weren’t really sold on whether or not Texas Tech could get to this point in the season and look as impressive as it has. And I wasn’t totally sure of just how good the Red Raiders could be. But they’ve been really good. Clearly.
When you look back at where ESPN’s FPI had the Red Raiders to start the season (Texas Tech was in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 back in June), it’s impressive to see just how far the Red Raiders have come.