No. 12 Texas Tech expects repeat after 1st Big 12 title and playoff appearance last year - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

The Red Raiders lost a school-record nine players to the NFL Draft, including six defensive starters, which would gut most programs. Tech responded by pulling 10 upperclassmen through the transfer portal to rebuild the defensive front seven. Linebacker Austin Romaine, one piece of that rebuilt unit, logged 162 tackles last season.

Quarterback is the other storyline. Brendan Sorsby was expected to start before an NCAA gambling investigation and a since-dropped eligibility lawsuit pushed him out of the program entirely. Tech turned again to the portal to find a replacement under center.

For fans who packed Jones AT&T Stadium all last fall and made the trip to the Big 12 Championship, this offseason felt like a stress test. The program burned through its depth chart at multiple positions simultaneously and still came out ranked in the top 15. That is a different level of program stability than Lubbock has seen in a long time.

No team in the country replaced more draft picks through the portal than Texas Tech did this cycle, which either means the roster is deeper than it looks or the Red Raiders are one injury away from finding out.