Will Texas Tech make the College Football Playoff? The Red Raiders' postseason eligibility explored

Texas Tech has been relatively impressive in 2024 as Joey Maguire is in his third season at the program. With a 5-3 record so far, the Red Raiders are on the route to having one of their best seasons in a decade, showcasing the level of improvement under the coach.

The Red Raiders finished the 2023 college football season with a 7-6 record, a regression from the 8-5 they recorded the year before. However, they have a strong chance of posting a better record than the two previous seasons with what they've shown so far this year.

With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams this season, here's a look at Texas Tech’s chances of securing a spot after Week 9

Will Texas Tech make the College Football Playoff?

Texas Tech has little to no chance of making the playoffs this season. This comes as a result of the team's poor outing in the last two games. The Red Raiders fell to Baylor and TCU in Week 8 and 9.

With three defeats on the books, the chances of the Red Raiders making the playoffs are very slim even if they win all their remaining games. Having that amount of defeat with their strength or schedule will obviously place them out of consideration for the postseason tournament.

Texas Tech also has a slim chance of making the Big 12 championship game this season considering its current position in the league. The Red Raiders are currently in sixth in the conference standing and the league has two teams that are currently undefeated this season.

How has Texas Tech performed this season so far?

Texas Tech started the 2024 college football season on a brilliantly, losing only once in their first six games. However, the team has themselves to blame for the recent performance.

Joey McGuire expressed his frustration at the team’s recent performance after the narrow loss to TCU last Saturday.

“That’s what’s frustrating, we wanted to get bowl eligible this week to go into that Iowa State game with one loss, they’re undefeated and we felt like that was going to be a huge game,” McGuire said after the TCU game.

“It goes back to what we talked about in the summer, we talked about at media day of playing meaningful games in November and it means more than just getting bowl eligible. Now it shifts a little bit.”

Texas Tech playoff record by year

Texas Tech hasn’t made an appearance in the CFP so far. The Red Raiders haven’t had a season with 10+ wins since the inception of the tournament, which is crucial to securing a spot.