This week the semifinals of the College Football Playoff will be played and for the third straight season, the Big 12 didn’t win a playoff game. The last time a Big 12 team won a playoff game, it was the 2022 TCU Horned Frogs. In fact, that was the only time the Big 12 has won a CFP game.
As good as that team was, they didn’t even win the Big 12 that season. They got beat by Kansas State in overtime and even though they were 12-0 going into the CFP, there was a real possibility of them being left out of the four-team playoff.
Instead, that team got in and ended up beating Michigan before making it to the National Championship game. Unfortunately, the only thing people remember about that TCU that year is getting their doors blown off by Georgia.
Big 12 Recent CFP History
Ever since then, the Big 12 has been looking for a team to get that bad taste out of their mouths. The 2023 Texas team was good, and they ended up making the playoff, but they fell short against Washington. Plus, they had a knack for playing down to competition.
Last year, Arizona State represented the conference. The Sun Devils were one of the biggest surprises in college football a year ago and were a fourth-down stop away from beating Texas in the Peach Bowl. As good as they were, nobody took them seriously. In fact, they were a double-digit underdog in that game.
But this year’s Texas Tech team was supposed to change the narrative about the Big 12. They ran through the conference like butter and their lone loss came against Arizona State on the road without their starting quarterback.
They set countless records and every single win in conference play was by 20-plus points. Their offense was full of talent, and their defense was the best defense in the last 15 years in the Big 12. They were by far the most complete team I have seen in the conference in a long time.
Texas Tech was so good that they beat BYU twice by double digits. They locked up a first round bye and weren’t just lucky to be there. Sure, they were a slight underdog against Oregon by no means was it a David and Goliath situation. As I said earlier in the week, Texas Tech wasn’t asked to keep it close, they were asked to win.
Texas Tech’s Present and Future
Unfortunately, Thursday in Miami didn’t go as planned. In fact, I would go as far to say that it was a total disaster not just for Texas Tech but for the Big 12 as a whole. To have a team dominate the conference like that and get bounced in the first game they play in was bad. And to have them lose by 23 was even worse.
I am not here to say that Texas Tech was a total fraud. If you watched that game, you could see how good their defense was against Oregon. Time and time again, they were put into some tough situations and more often than not, they held their own. People quickly forget that it was only a six-point game at halftime.
The offense was a different story. They couldn’t run the ball, and they turned it over four times. For as much money they spent in the offseason, one has to wonder if they should have tried to upgrade the quarterback position.
Now hindsight is always 20/20, but keep in mind that Texas Tech has truly never been in a position like this before. They won the Big 12 for the first time in school history and made their first ever College Football Playoff appearance.
Joey McGuire and his staff had a ton of pressure on them. For months, all they heard about from the national media was about the money that was spent to put this team together and that it was championship or bust. That’s a tough spot to be in no matter how talented your team is.
He proved that he is the right man for the job and for a conference that is looking for someone to take over, Texas Tech has jumped to the front of that list. They are committed to using their resources to be competitive not just in the Big 12 but nationally as well.
Don’t be surprised to see the Red Raiders holding up the Big 12 title and making another playoff appearance next season. For their sake and for the sake of the conference, let’s just hope that the end result looks a lot different in 2026.
