The College Football Playoff is just about to get underway and we’re going to see Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders try to get a spot in the national championship game. There’s a ton of talent all over the field for the Red Raiders and it seems like this particular Texas Tech football team is equipped to make some noise at this point in the season.
We’ll see what this team is capable of given all of the talent all over the field for the Red Raiders.
One thing that I’ve been wondering about is what history says of Texas Tech’s chances in this season’s College Football Playoff. I know this is new territory for the Red Raiders, but how have teams in the 4-seed fared in the past?
Let’s take a quick look at the entire history of the College Football Playoff (which isn’t all that long, to be honest) and go over how the No. 4 seed has done in each season.
College Football Playoff history: How have the No. 4 seeds performed ahead of the 2025 College Football Playoff?
Here’s what that history looks like (and it starts out great for the 4-seed):
- 2014 - Ohio State Buckeyes beat No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl (Semifinals) and No. 2 Oregon in the National Championship
- 2015 - Oklahoma Sooners lost to No. 1 Clemson in the Orange Bowl (Semifinals)
- 2016 - Washington Huskies lost to No. 1 Alabama in the Peach Bowl (Semifinals)
- 2017 - Alabama Crimson Tide beat No. 1 Clemson in the Sugar Bowl (Semifinals) and No. 3 Georgia in the National Championship
- 2018 - Oklahoma Sooners lost to No. 1 Alabama in the Orange Bowl (Semifinals)
- 2019 - Oklahoma Sooners lost to No. 1 LSU in the Peach Bowl (Semifinals)
- 2020 - Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost to No. 1 Alabama in the Rose Bowl (Semifinals)
- 2021 - Cincinnati Bearcats lost to No. 1 Alabama in the Cotton Bowl (Semifinals)
- 2022 - Ohio State Buckeyes lost to No. 1 Georgia in the Peach Bowl (Semifinals)
- 2023 - Alabama Crimson Tide lost to No. 1 Michigan in the Rose Bowl (Semifinals)
- 2024 - Arizona State Sun Devils lost to No. 5 Texas in the Peach Bowl (Quarterfinals in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff)
The history here is really pointing to a boom-or-bust sort of scenario. Either we see the No. 4 team go out and beat some really impressive teams and claim a national title (2014 Ohio State and 2017 Alabama) or we see a team lose out in their first game played (Oklahoma a bunch of times, 2016 Washington, 2020 Notre Dame, 2021 Cincinnati, 2022 Ohio State, 2023 Alabama, and 2024 Arizona State).
With the way the Red Raiders are assembled, it feels like they’ve got a solid shot of shocking some folks. And it’s certainly not unprecedented to see a 4-seed go out and win it all. We’ll see how it pans out though.