To a large extent, Texas Tech’s historic investment in building a football powerhouse has already been successful.
The Red Raiders won a record 12 games, captured their first conference championship since 1955, and not only made their first College Football Playoff, but also earned a fourth-place finish and a first-round bye.
That alone should probably be validation for mega booster Cody Campbell, who financed much of what would be a $28 million roster with some of the best transfers in the entire country.
Especially since Texas Tech hadn’t been ranked since 2018 or won more than eight games since 2009.
But the Red Raiders and coach Joey McGuire have a chance to really prove the investment was worth it Thursday when they face No. 5 Oregon (12-1) in the Orange Bowl for a spot in the CFP semifinals.
The Ducks were seventh in the Associated Press preseason poll.
They were 13-0 and a No. 1 seed in last year’s College Football Playoff before losing in the quarterfinals.
This is a program considered by many to be the next new school to win its first national championship, something the Red Raiders are also chasing.
And while Texas Tech is the higher seed, Oregon is favored by 2.5 points, the only lower seeded team to be favored in the quarterfinals, with the other three higher seeds all favored by more than 6.5 points.
To some extent this makes sense. Oregon has a potential No. 1 pick in next year’s draft in quarterback Dante Moore (3,046 passing yards, 28 touchdowns) and has consistently been one of the top recruiting teams in the country under Dan Lanning.
Texas Tech took a slightly different approach, developing some high school recruits while investing heavily in the transfer portal last offseason with significant money to spend.
And while this type of roster building has yet to prove its ability to create a national title contender, who said it wasn’t possible?
Texas Tech signed defensive end David Bailey from Stanford and his 13.5 sacks this season are second nationally and most in the Power Four.
Georgia Tech DL transfer Romello Height has 9.5 sacks while UCF DL transfer Lee Hunter has 8.5 tackles for loss.
Mississippi State cornerback transfer Brice Pollard is tied for the Big 12 lead with five interceptions this season.
Pair them with near-Heisman finalist Jacob Rodriguez – a former backup who became an all-star linebacker at Texas Tech – and you have a pretty formidable defense.
Through unusual means, Texas Tech has built one of the best defenses in the country, ranking third in scoring defense (10.9 points per game) and total defense (254.4 yards) and forcing an FBS-leading 31 turnovers.
While some might question the level of competition they played at, one cannot question the Red Raiders’ level of consistency. Their 12 wins have been by more than 20 points and their only loss was without starting quarterback Behren Morton, who told reporters this week that he was finally out of his walking boot and back to 100 percent.
Texas Tech has already laid out the model for this new era of college football that a school can seriously raise its cap if it’s willing to spend enough money.
This week, he has the opportunity to show that schools can even help become legitimate national title contenders.
