Good morning. I’m home and feeling a bit more normal. I tend to have very sore legs a couple of days after running that far and sitting on a plane for a handful of hours and then driving home tends to not help things. This is probably not my best The Morning Stake effort, but showing up is half the battle.

On the Pitch

Texas Tech soccer defeated Kansas 2-0 yesterday afternoon at the John Walker Soccer Complex. Sam Courtwright delivered the pass, but it was an absolute stunner from Taylor Zdrojewski 32 seconds into the match and second Zdrojewski goal assisted by a perfect center from Peyton Parsons in the second half secured the victory. The Red Raiders will be home again on Friday night as No. 7 TCU comes to Lubbock, first touch is at 7:00 p.m.

On the Gridiron

Via College Poll Tracker, Texas Tech football is at No. 9 in the latest AP Poll, with voters registering votes as high as No. 5 and as low as No. 13. Of all things, Texas Tech is sandwiched in-between Alabama at No. 9 and Georgia at No. 10.

Last night was fun pic.twitter.com/YL6lOAMZNg

— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) October 6, 2025

ESPN’s Bill Connelly with thoughts after this weekend’s games and his projections are that Texas Tech has a really good chance to make the Big 12 title game:

Hey, guess what: Texas Tech looked fantastic again. Even while settling for too many field goals (like Alabama), the Red Raiders still led previously unbeaten Houston by at least 12 points for the game’s final 46 minutes, more than doubled the Cougars’ yardage (552-267) and cruised to victory. They’re projected favorites by double digits in every remaining regular-season game, per SP+, and have a 36% chance of reaching 12-0. They have better conference title odds than any other power-conference team.

Big 12 title odds, per SP+
Texas Tech 38.2%
BYU 12.7%
Cincinnati 10.0%
Utah 9.8%
Arizona State 7.2%
TCU 5.1%
Arizona 5.0%
Iowa State 4.4%
Kansas 3.9%

Overall, the Big 12 slate was as chaotic as ever, with three games decided by one score — including a last-second goal-line stand for Kansas (27-20 over UCF) and a last-minute field goal for Baylor (35-34 over Kansas State). Unbeaten BYU didn’t look amazing against West Virginia on Friday night but never really had to sweat either, and Baylor, TCU and Kansas were able to overcome early-season losses and remain in the title race.

ESPN predicts the College Football Playoff participants and all of them have Texas Tech in the playoff, from No. 4 to No. 10.

2027 composite 5-star and the No. 1 defensive tackle in the 2027 class, Jalen Brewster (6-3/302) committed to Texas Tech on Saturday during the game.

Recruiting Profiles: On3 | 24/7 Sports