The Red Raiders started the year about as badly as possible. An ugly near loss to ACU, and then an ugly blowout defeat on the road in Pullman against Washington State. Now, the results following those performances have been a lot more as expected. A crushing victory over North Texas, and at times ugly but comfortable victory over Arizona State. All in all, Tech sits at 3-1 and 1-0 in the Big 12 race.

It is still a mystery what this team can or cannot do, with the ceiling appearing very high and the floor very low. But the conference race appears wide open. Presumed bottom dweller BYU crushing Kansas State and how pitiful Oklahoma State has looked to date has really loosened the top on the conference. With the Red Raiders avoiding Utah, who will continue to be doubted with Rising’s status in the air, it is still very possible for the Red Raiders to insert themselves in the conversation.

But that has to happen this weekend against Cincinnati. A win will put Texas Tech comfortably in the Big 12 race with the road game against Arizona the biggest test of the year. A loss, and we will know definitively Tech is not a championship contender.