Yahoo Sports slots Texas Tech No. 8 in preseason Top 25, pointing to a Big 12 title path again

Yahoo Sports’ preseason College Football Top 25 released on Aug. 12 places Texas Tech at No. 8 and argues the Red Raiders should have another strong route back to the Big 12 title game. The placement comes as programs shift fully into August preparation, with the season calendar starting to tighten toward Week Zero on Aug. 29.

The writer’s central point is that Texas Tech’s path to the College Football Playoff could be relatively straightforward compared with other power-conference contenders, because the Big 12 title game effectively serves as the conference’s clearest “gateway” to playoff positioning. In that framework, being a top team in the conference matters as much as being nationally decorated.

The projection is explicitly made “even without Brendan Sorsby,” which indicates that the preseason evaluation is being made without one expected component of Texas Tech’s offense. The broader implication is that the Red Raiders’ evaluation is being built on the idea that the team’s supporting pieces, coaching plan, and overall structure can carry the load if a key player is not available at the start of the season.

Texas Tech’s preseason positioning also lands in the same conversation as personnel uncertainty and roster resilience, themes that follow most teams as the calendar turns from spring work into full-contact camp. A team can only benefit from returning experience if it survives the most common offseason volatility, and offseason medical recoveries often define how quickly depth charts stabilize.

The Yahoo Sports package includes a photo caption noting Will Hammond suffered a torn ACL against Oklahoma State in 2025. While the preseason ranking is not a medical report, the reference underscores that Texas Tech, like every major program, is not operating in a vacuum and that key contributors’ availability and performance trajectory are part of the preseason narrative.

For Texas Tech, the “test” of a preseason Top 25 ranking will arrive quickly. The Red Raiders are expected to demonstrate that they can translate preseason confidence into early results, particularly against quality conference opposition that shapes Big 12 championship odds. If the team matches the expectation of being a title-game caliber side, the preseason argument about an accessible playoff path will gain credibility.

As Week Zero approaches, the details to watch are straightforward: whether Texas Tech’s offense can operate efficiently without the presumed element referenced in the preseason write-up, and whether the defense can keep games within reach while the quarterback and play-calling roles stabilize. Those elements will decide if No. 8 is a marker of legitimate contender status or simply an early-season guess that the schedule quickly corrects.