Texas Tech’s 2025 season was the best in program history. The Red Raiders went 12-2, won their first Big 12 championship, and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time, where the run ended with a shutout loss to Oregon.
| 2025 season | Detail |
|---|---|
| Record | 12-2 overall, 8-1 in the Big 12. A school record for wins |
| Big 12 Championship Game | Beat BYU 34-7 |
| What it ended | The program’s first outright conference title since 1955 |
| Playoff | First appearance in school history |
| Orange Bowl quarterfinal | Lost 23-0 to Oregon |
| Final ranking | No. 7 in both the AP and coaches polls |
| Head coach | Joey McGuire, in his fourth season |
| Conference titles | Years |
|---|---|
| Border Conference | 1937, 1942, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955 |
| Southwest Conference | 1976, 1994 |
| Big 12 | 2025 |
| The gap | Seventy years between the 1955 Border Conference title and the 2025 Big 12 title |
What the Run Actually Proved
The championship game was not close. Texas Tech beat BYU 34-7 to take the conference, capping an 8-1 league season that produced more Big 12 wins than any other program had managed in that span.
The playoff told a different story. Oregon shut the Red Raiders out 23-0 in the Orange Bowl quarterfinal, which is a difficult way to end a historic season and left an obvious question hanging over 2026: whether Texas Tech belongs among the teams that win those games or merely among the teams that reach them. The program’s playoff record stands at 0-1.
The 2026 answer starts tonight against Houston, with the Red Raiders ranked 13th and defending the title. Our Texas Tech schedule page tracks the season, and the conference publishes championship history at Big12Sports.com.
The Bottom Line
Texas Tech went 12-2 in 2025, beat BYU 34-7 for its first Big 12 title and first outright conference championship since 1955, then lost the Orange Bowl 23-0 to Oregon in its first playoff appearance.