Back in July, when Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark claimed the league to be “the deepest football conference in America,” the statement didn’t land with much confidence. But with Texas Tech now rising to No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings and emerging as the Big 12’s leading playoff contender, that assessment suddenly seems prophetic.

“I am thrilled to see the Big 12 Conference getting the respect it deserves. I said at Big 12 football media days in July that we would earn it on the field, and we continue to do that,” Brett Yormark said. Texas Tech’s dominance is the result of its two-week winning streak. First, their win against BYU moved them up to No. 6 from No. 8, and then their win against UCF, paired with Alabama’s loss against Oklahoma, made them rise.

Joey McGuire’s explosive scoring defense, allowing just 12.3 points per game and ranking at No. 3 in the country, made their way to the playoffs. With that, the Red Raiders even enjoyed their first undefeated season at home since 2008, going 7-0 at Jones AT&T Stadium. BYU, Houston, Utah, and Arizona State hold a spot in the latest playoff rankings. And now Brett Yormark is enjoying the success he’s been pushing for, and he clearly owes Texas Tech for delivering it. “I fully expect the Big 12 to earn multiple College Football Playoff bids this year and to show once again we can compete with anybody,” Yormark said.

Since taking over in 2022, Yormark has had just one goal in mind: giving the Big 12 a redefined identity. “I believe we will be the deepest football conference in America. No league offers the competitive balance that we do,” he said. And now for the first time this season, the Big 12 has five teams in the Top 25 rankings. But from here, the competition increases.

ESPN gives a 69.5% chance to Texas Tech to earn a first-round playoff bye. Now they don’t play this week, but they can still secure a spot in the Big 12 championship if Cincinnati and Arizona State both lose. So that their only loss to the Sun Devils doesn’t hurt them much. As the committee already favors them, and now that Arizona State is ranked No. 25, the loss looks less bad.

Now, after Texas Tech, BYU holds the second-best chance to reach the Big 12 championship game with 80.2% odds, behind Texas Tech, which is at 97.5%. Now, that happens if they beat Cincinnati and Arizona State loses, and Houston loses. Then, if both BYU and Texas Tech go up against each other and BYU wins, they are in the playoffs.

Utah, ASU, and Houston are still in the mix, but odds are shifting more towards Texas Tech and BYU’s dominance. Now it will be interesting to see which Big 12 team finally makes it to the finals.

But with that, there’s another big development on the Texas Tech campus.

Joey McGuire’s LSU threat finally comes to rest

Joey McGuire’s rise this season has grabbed so many eyes. His team is not just leading the Big 12 but also making a hard push towards the CFP. That’s something the LSU Tigers are searching after Brian Kelly’s exit. The rumors of LSU’s private jet visiting Lubbock also made a lot of headlines when a fan made a bold comment on X saying, “LSU’s private jet was “supposedly” seen at a Lubbock airport …. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce the next head football coach at LSU—Coach Joey McGuire. All kidding aside, I wouldn’t be angry at this!!” they said.

But just when everyone thought it was the end of McGuire’s era at Texas Tech, their chairman, Cody Campbell, came right in to shut the noise out. Replying to that fan, he said, “Sorry, bub. Good luck with your coaching search, but Joey McGuire isn’t going anywhere.”

This man holds a 33-17 overall and 23-12 record in the Big 12 in his fourth year at Texas Tech, which makes him perfect eye candy for other teams. But it looks like that’s not happening anytime soon.