How Texas Tech Bought Its Way Into College Football’s Elite and Became This Year’s Sleeper Team

Texas Tech has not finished in the Top 25 since 2009 and for so many years were a very average Big 12 program. 

But suddenly, four weeks into the 2025 season, Joey McGuire’s team is unbeaten, ranked No. 11 in the country with the third-best point differential in the nation. 

This isn’t a Cinderella story that consists of a long rebuild with slow development and culture building. This is the new reality of college football: NIL money. 

As Yahoo Sports noted, Texas Tech poured roughly $28 million into NIL deals this offseason, the second-biggest spend in the country behind only Texas, which spent between $35-40 million. 

The push has been fueled largely by former Red Raider lineman and now oil billionaire Cody Campbell, who’s become the driving force behind the program’s turnaround. 

Texas Tech’s Major Improvements

Quarterback Behren Morton was the centerpiece of Texas Tech’s NIL push, landing a $1 million deal to stay in Lubbock. 

Through four games, the Texas Tech QB has thrown for 1,065 yards and 11 touchdowns, leading the Red Raiders to a 4-0. 

In addition, a bulk of the money went into beefing up the offensive and defensive lines. 

So far, their improvements have turned what was one of the nation’s worst defenses a year ago into a unit that now gives up just 12.7 points per game, the eighth fewest in the country. 

Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard framed the program’s rise in financial terms when he told CBS Sports this summer:

“I see Texas Tech as a stock, and this is the equivalent of getting Bitcoin when it was 13 cents, or Tesla or Apple at their IPO.”

The Red Raiders’ roster overhaul shows what’s possible when boosters are willing to write checks that rival Wall Street investments. 

Texas Tech in the National Championship Conversation

In their first true test of the season, the Red Raiders rolled into Utah and dominated the Utes.  Texas Tech went into one of the toughest environments in college football and beat a team that was seen as one of the best teams in the Big 12. 

Texas Tech racked up 484 yards of offense and held Utah to just 263, leaving no questions about who the new Big 12 favorite was. 

After this week’s road test against undefeated Houston, the Red Raiders only have two more ranked matchups left on their schedule against No. 25 Arizona State and No. 23 BYU. 

If Texas Tech keeps up its current level of play, they have a very good chance to finish the regular season 12-0, play for a Big 12 title game, and even position themselves for a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. 

Texas Tech’s rise is the clearest sign yet that NIL money isn’t just part of college football’s future, it’s rewriting the sport’s present.

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