Tuesday night, the Texas Tech football team found out just what the College Football selection committee thinks of its 2026 resume through eight games. Unfortunately, the committee's opinion is not favorable.
Despite being 7-1 and owning two wins over top-25 teams (at the time that the game was played), the Red Raiders are on the outside looking in thanks to their No. 15 ranking in the first College Football Playoff rankings. That's a clear message from the committee to head coach Joey McGuire and his team.
The Red Raiders already knew that to get to the Big 12 title game, they would probably have to win the last four games on the schedule. Now, they know that unless absolute chaos erupts across the college football landscape, they will have to win the Big 12 to earn a playoff spot.
Tech's low ranking is not surprising to many fans. That's because the narrative all season has been that the schedule McGuire and Co. have gone through has not been up to the standard of those embarked upon by other playoff contenders.
The initial College Football Playoff rankings 🚨 pic.twitter.com/5ToRSeeOXF
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) November 4, 2026
Additionally, the Red Raiders are being penalized for playing in the Big 12. Though Tech has only one loss, there was no way the committee was going to rank three teams from this conference in the top 12.
Still, it is frustrating to see the bias against Tech and the Big 12 play out before our eyes. Tech sits below six two-loss teams.
It should come as no surprise, though, that each of those six teams calls the SEC or the Big Ten home. Many of those teams don't have the type of quality wins that the Red Raiders do, though.
For instance, No. 14 LSU has only one win over a ranked team, and that was against No. 23 Texas A&M. Of course, since then, the Aggies have fallen off the face of the Earth and now sit at just 4-4 overall. Therefore, LSU can't boast any wins better than the ones Tech has over No. 17 Houston and No. 22 Arizona.
Meanwhile, No. 11 Notre Dame has not beaten a ranked team all season. In fact, they've played only one, BYU, and they lost that game. So why isn't their dreadful schedule being held against them? Oh wait, it is because the committee desperately wants to find a way to get the Irish into the playoff to appease the television networks.
Then there is Alabama. If you take the logo off of their helmets, they wouldn't be ranked No. 5 with a 6-2 record. After all, the only team in the top 25 of the current playoff rankings that they have beaten is No. 6 Kentucky.
In the end, these rankings don't mean much, and that is what Texas Tech fans should take solace in. The Red Raiders' playoff chances are still very much in their own hands. However, they now know that the committee doesn't believe in them and that their path to the playoff is going to be extremely narrow.
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