How Texas Tech is being viewed among Big 12 foes
While social media may have you believing Texas Tech are the new demons in college sports, the Red Raiders are still viewed favorably in the eyes of some of their Big 12 adversaries.
The Red Raiders are now the transfer portal darlings looking to speedrun their way to a Big 12 championship berth.
This has not gone unnoticed around the league.
Back in May, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham remarked, “I 100% agree!!!!” in response to a tweet claiming Tech had the talent to win the Big 12 in 2025. Dillingham doesn’t mince words and he stands by what he said in a throwaway tweet almost two months ago.
“Yeah they beat our butt last year and they added a ton of really good players to their team,” Dillingham said on stage Tuesday at the 2025 Big 12 Media Days. “They probably had the best portal haul of any team in college football. Already a good football team with a good football coach in a fun environment to play at. People read into things I do. I just tell people the truth. I saw a tweet I liked, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, they’re right. They do have the talent to win the league.’ I think anybody who says they don’t have the talent to win the league is absolutely delusional.
I bet if you ask coach McGuire, his expectation is to win the league. Not to compete, but to win it. It’s a great challenge. We get to host them at home this year and they’re a phenomenal football team. And they’ve added a lot of phenomenal pieces.”
How Tech is being viewed in Waco
Even with this season’s pause, the annual meeting between Texas Tech and Baylor always commands respect. McGuire’s ties to the school make it even more meaningful now. In recent years, Tech and the Bears have gone head-to-head in several high school recruiting battles.
Amidst hotly-contested battles for prospects such as Jamarion Carlton and Chase Campbell, what Tech is doing with revenue sharing has piqued the interest of Bears’ coach Dave Aranda.
“Yeah I’m excited for them,” Aranda said. “I think it’s good that a team that a non-blue blood school is out there recruiting at such a high level. I think it’s good for college football. It helps our league. I see the competitiveness in recruiting nationally and recruiting in our league.”
It’s cool when Tech does it, it’s a problem when Colorado does it
The controversy surrounding the Red Raiders’ loss to Colorado in Nov. 2024 overshadowed the upstanding relationship between McGuire and Buffs coach Deion Sanders.
When Sanders arrived at Colorado, he cleared shop, bringing his “Louis Vuitton” luggage with him. Analysts ridiculed Coach Prime for his aggressive portal shopping strategy.
Texas Tech is being viewed more favorably than Colorado was. Though, admittedly, critics are still weighing in their opinions. Sanders used a question directed at him about McGuire to both share his joy and jealousy on the portal approach.
“Joey got some money. Joey where you at, baby? Spending some money? I love it, I love it,” Sanders yelled and joked on stage Wednesday. “Once upon a time, you guys were talking junk about me going to that portal. Now, everybody going to the portal, it’s okay. It’s cool when they do it, it’s a problem when I do it. Ain’t that a rap song? First of all, let’s get this straight. I love me some Joey McGuire. One of the best coaches in our conference. I’ve seen him excel from high school all the way to where he is now. He’s a winner. I absolutely love it.
“I love him because he’s a man of standard. We played there last year and we were getting bombarded by them tortillas. And Joey grabbed the microphone and told them to stop throwing at us or it’s gonna be some consequences. I love that. I love Joey. Joey, I know you out there, baby, I love you, man. I appreciate you. Can you send a few of those dollars to us so we can get some players too?”
