The Big 12 is the only remaining Power Conference that hasn’t won a national championship in the College Football Playoff era, but the Texas Tech Red Raiders are doing their part to put an end to that.
Titles are won in the offseason, and while that adage typically refers to winter and spring conditioning programs, the transfer portal cycle has become an integral portion of the roster-building process in college football.
In the 2025 cycle, there hasn’t been anyone more dedicated to building a winner through the portal than Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders.
TTU general manager James Blanchard—who recently turned down an offer for the same position at Notre Dame—was ambitious when it came to getting the best players in the transfer portal this cycle. With the support of both Coach McGuire and Texas Tech mega-booster Cody Campbell, Blanchard took a “shoot-for-the-stars” approach and hit his mark.
“I talked with Cody and Coach McGuire,” Blanchard told ESPN, “and Coach was like, ‘Man, if they can help us win the Big 12, let’s just go ahead and go all-in. Let’s do it.'”
Texas Tech’s portal class consists of 17 players, several of which were the top available players at their position. When all was said and done, the Red Raiders had spent north of $10 million—more than double their anticipated investment—and has the top overall transfer class to show for it.
“We’re pushing all our chips in,” Joey McGuire said, according to ESPN.
Part of the reason for that mentality was the 8-5 finish in 2024, which McGuire called a “complete failure” at the end of the year.
“I felt guilty coming into this office, like I’m not doing my job,” McGuire said. “So you want it so bad to get over the hump.
“How do you do that? You get better players.”
They certainly did that, as players like Quinten Joyner, Reggie Virgil, Howard Sampson, and Terrance Carter were as sought-after as any name in the country. This wasn’t just about winning those recruiting battles, either. Texas Tech is doing what it believes will push it to finally get to Arlington and beyond.
“Man, I came here to win championships,” McGuire told ESPN. “I wanna be in that game so bad.”
And Coach isn’t the only one that feels that way.
“This place has never gone to the Big 12 championship or won one,” Blanchard said. “Everybody from the top down is wanting one in Lubbock, Texas. I can’t imagine. It’ll be a dream.
“But it’s gonna be a dream come true, because it’s about to happen.”
