Big 12 Season Preview: Texas Tech Red Raiders - 247Sports

Head coach Joey McGuire, now in his fifth season, led the Red Raiders to a 12-2 record last year with an 8-1 mark in conference play, good enough for a seventh-place finish in the final AP poll. Tech's defense was historically stingy, surrendering just 11.8 points per game while allowing only 11 touchdown passes and 8 rushing touchdowns all season. Jones AT&T Stadium got loud a lot of Saturdays.

The offense now runs through junior quarterback Will Hammond, who posted a 680-yard, 7-touchdown, 3-interception line before going down with an ACL injury. He is expected to be fully healthy for the season opener. Sophomore Lloyd Jones III sits behind him on the depth chart, giving the Raiders a credible backup option. Tech also used its financial resources to add talent through the transfer portal, reinforcing a roster that already returns more contributors than most Big 12 programs.

The Sorsby gambling investigation closed some of the gap between Tech and the rest of the conference, but the Raiders remain the odds-on favorite to win the Big 12 outright, a title that would be the program's first in the conference era.