The Texas Tech football team picked up one of the most important wins of its season Friday night by beating No. 22 Houston 28-26 in Lubbock. What's more, given the way the game unfolded, with Tech falling into a 10-0 first-quarter deficit only to fight back for the win, many argue that it was one of the more impressive wins of head coach Joey McGuire's entire tenure with the program.
While that might be true, one group of people who were apparently unimpressed with Tech's win in week three was the pollsters. That's because the Red Raiders barely moved up at all despite registering a win over a ranked team.
In the latest rankings, released Sunday, Tech moved up just one spot to No. 11 in the Associated Press Poll and two spots to No. 10 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. That might be disappointing to fans who believed that a ranked win would help vault Tech up the rankings
Texas remains the No. 1 team in each poll after beating UTSA in Austin on Saturday. Georgia and Notre Dame are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in both polls.
At No. 4 in the A.P. poll is Ole Miss, which took down Lane Kiffin and LSU in Oxford Saturday night. Meanwhile, defending National Champion Indiana is at No. 4 in the Coaches poll.
Miami, Ohio State, Alabama, and BYU are next in each poll. Then, Tech rounds out the top ten in the Coaches poll, while No. 10 in the A.P. poll is LSU.
Other Big 12 teams in the rankings include Utah (No. 15 in both polls) and Houston (No. 25 in the A.P.). What's fascinating, though, is that the Cougars fell completely out of the Coaches poll despite nearly leaving Lubbock with a win.
What it will take for Tech to significantly move up this year
Texas Tech fans must remember that it is tough for teams to make huge jumps in the poll once they near the top 10. For instance, the only team in the top 15 that moved up more than two spots in the A.P. poll was Ole Miss, which got a top-10 win in the featured game of the week to rise four places.
Though Tech's win in week three was one of the few ranked wins that a top-10 team earned, it wasn't enough for a significant bump. That's because people keep expecting to see the Red Raiders win by more convincing margins this year.
So far, Tech has yet to cover the spread in any game in 2026 (though had Cam Dickey not given himself up on Friday night's final possession instead of scoring a sure-fire TD, Tech would have covered in week three). What's more, in the last two games, the favored Red Raiders have had to fight for their lives in the fourth quarter.
Because of that, the narrative surrounding this team is that it hasn't lived up to expectations. That's a bit unfair because the bar was set so high after the dominant 2025 run to the College Football Playoff.
Tech also raised expectations by talking such a big game in the offseason. All the attention the program drew, combined with the belief that Tech's 2026 schedule is one of the weakest in the nation, led many to expect a Red Raider waltz back to the playoffs.
Therefore, any sign of weakness or vulnerability from McGuire's team was bound to be magnified. As a result, Tech's 3-0 start has been deemed unimpressive by people around the nation.
So if the Red Raiders want to keep moving up in the polls, they need to start winning games with more ease. At this moment, there is no other ranked team on the regular-season schedule, and if Tech does encounter another top-25 team before a potential appearance in the Big 12 title game, it likely will be a team that has snuck into the bottom of the polls, not a top-15 opponent. That means the only way to impress and draw national praise is by exerting dominance over lesser opponents.
Starting this week at home against Sam Houston, Tech needs to have a few blowout wins to begin to change the national story about this team. Doing so would also help the Red Raiders' position in the polls while simultaneously helping to lower fans' blood pressure across Raiderland.
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