Urban Meyer claims Texas Tech can 'swing at some SEC, Big Ten schools'

Texas Tech continued its march to the College Football Playoff last Saturday by blitzing No. 7-ranked BYU 29-7 in Lubbock. The Red Raiders are up to No. 6 in this week’s CFP Rankings ahead of their final two regular season games against UCF and West Virginia.

Joey McGuire‘s program currently sits at 9-1 (6-1) on the season, with its lone loss coming on the road to Arizona State on Oct. 18. Starting quarterback Behren Morton did not suit up in that game, as he was still dealing with an injury he suffered in Tech’s 42-17 win over Kansas the week prior.

Thanks to a strong NIL budget (which helped haul in the No. 1-ranked Transfer Portal class prior to the season), the Red Raiders have stacked their roster on both sides of the ball. Due to its strong roster makeup, College Football Hall of Famer Urban Meyer declared that Texas Tech could ‘swing at some SEC and Big Ten schools’ in the College Football Playoff.

“I’m a BYU guy now because of, well, actually an Utah guy, but I really appreciate coach (Kalani) Sitake at BYU,” Meyer said on ‘The Triple Option’ podcast. “I used to not even say the letters B-Y-U. But how do you not love that guy? How do you not love the way his team plays? He ran into a buzzsaw, though.”

Urban Meyer says Texas Tech looks like an SEC team

“I stood next to Texas Tech and I was sizing them up… they’re an SEC-looking team,” Meyer continued. “They really are. They’ve got the skillset. They have to keep their quarterback (Behren Morton) healthy, but if they stay healthy, they’ll swing at some SEC and Big Ten schools.”

In the latest College Football Playoff bracket released Tuesday night by the selection committee, No. 6 Texas Tech would host No. 11 Miami in Lubbock in a First Round matchup. The Red Raiders have not played a non-conference game against a Power-Four opponent this season, so it would be mighty interesting to see how they’d stand up to that challenge.

They’ve certainly stood up to the challenge across the rest of their schedule. In their nine wins, Tech is outscoring teams 399-100. Across all 10 games, the Red Raiders have totaled 4,799 yards (third most in the NCAA) and 421 points (second most in the NCAA). Defensively, the program has allowed just 12.6 points (third-best mark in NCAA) and 269.7 yards per game (ninth-best mark in NCAA).

Just because they don’t hail from the Big Ten or SEC doesn’t mean Texas Tech isn’t a National Championship contender. It has been absolutely dominant this season so far, and it’ll look to keep that going across its final two regular season games, the Big 12 Championship Game, and its College Football Playoff Game(s).