Texas college football rankings: Texas Tech is back at No. 1 over Longhorns

Texas Tech quarterback Tommy Castellanos (4) runs with the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Arizona, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Lubbock, Texas. (Annie Rice/AP Photo/Annie Rice) We get the first College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday. It will be interesting to see what the committee thinks of Texas Tech with its weak non-conference schedule and Texas with a pair of 3-point losses but three wins over top-15 teams.

>For us, we're putting the Red Raiders back at No. 1 after their win over Arizona and SMU's loss to Syracuse.

>The Chronicle's rankings for the 13 FBS teams in Texas:

1. Texas Tech (7-1) | Last week: 3Tommy Castellanos was finally ruled eligible for Tech and Joey McGuire made the switch to him at quarterback over Will Hammond. It paid off in a 34-26 win over No. 22 Arizona. The Red Raiders still have a path to the Big 12 title game.

2. Texas (6-2) | Last week: 2Steve Sarkisian doesn't know what the potential is for his team after a 31-3 win over Mississippi State. Neither do we, but we still have questions.

3. Houston (6-2) | Last week: 4Basketball season starts Monday but there's plenty of football left for the Cougars, who had an open date. They host Cincinnati this week.

4. UTSA (7-1) | Last week: 5Jeff Traylor spent his team's off week saying how much he liked San Antonio as Baylor started its search to replace Dave Aranda.

5. SMU (6-2) | Last week: 1The Mustangs found ways to lose at Syracuse and saw their CFP hopes fade away.

6. Texas A&M (4-4) | Last week: 6It's pride month for the Aggies, who have had a disappointing season after starting ranked in the top 10.

7. North Texas (6-2) | Last week: 7They canceled classes in Denton last Thursday for the Mean Green's appearance on ESPN. North Texas put on a show in a 48-41 win over Florida Atlantic. Tayven Jackson passed for 404 yards. Who needs Drew Mestemaker?

8. TCU (4-4) | Last week: 9TCU will take any win it can get this year, and Saturday's 22-16 win over Kansas was one of those. "Sometimes you're going to have to win some ugly games, and that was kind of an ugly football game," coach Sonny Dykes said.

9. Baylor (5-3) | Last week: 10As names like Lincoln Riley and Jeff Traylor are floated to replace Dave Aranda, interim coach Joe Klanderman did just fine in a 41-9 win over UCF on Friday. Where have these Bears been?

10. Texas State (4-4) | Last week: 8For a brief moment, it looked as if Texas State had overcome a 28-3 halftime deficit against Boise State. But the Bobcats couldn't hold leads of 39-28 and 45-40 in a wild final nine minutes and fell 46-45.

11. Rice (1-7) | Last week: 11The Owls had a week off and are at North Texas this week.

12. UTEP (1-7) | Last week: 13Scotty Walden won three games his first season as UTEP's coach. Then two games his second season. He's at one win so far in his third season after a 31-7 loss to North Dakota State. That's the not the right direction.

13. Sam Houston (1-7) | Last week: 12The Bearkats fired Phil Longo after a 24-3 loss to Missouri State on Tuesday. Longo was 3-17 during his tenure in Huntsville.

FCS BonusKudos to Stephen F. Austin and Tarleton State, who are both 9-0.

SubscribeThere’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Texas college football rankings: Texas Tech is back at No. 1 over Longhorns.