Last season, and through the summer, Texas Tech and BYU have been in the spotlight on both the conference and national stages.
These two programs have launched themselves into potential powerhouse status after Texas Tech’s conference championship win and College Football Playoff appearance.
Despite laying an egg in the playoff, the Red Raiders have not been dismissed as a one-hit-wonder. However, this summer the team thrust itself into the national limelight (and not in the good way) as it relentlessly defended transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby.
After the Sorsby drama was resolved, Texas Tech has found itself without its marquee quarterback and will rely on sophomore Will Hammond, who is still recovering from an ACL tear last season.
With its quarterback identity undecided, some questions have been raised about whether or not the Red Raiders should be the favorite to win the conference.
BYU is the second favorite to win the conference behind Texas Tech and has been on a hot streak over the last two seasons, losing just four games in that span. The Cougars lost twice last season, once to Texas Tech in Lubbock and again in Arlington in the conference title game.
Unlike Texas Tech, BYU’s quarterback position is solid, with freshman standout Bear Bachmeier returning to run the offense. Alongside Bachmeier is the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year LJ Martin, who was the best running back in the conference last year.
Martin finished the season with 1,305 rushing yards, almost 200 more yards compared to the second and third place finishers, one of which was Texas Tech’s Cameron Dickey.
Both defenses retained many of their players, and added a few potential stars from the portal. However, the quarterback imbalance between the two teams begs the question:
Should BYU be favored to win the conference over Texas Tech?
Well, long-time sports columnist Berry Tramel thinks it should be.
“I actually thought second is about where I’d pick them (BYU), but when (Texas) Tech lost Sorsby, I thought, you know, I’d probably move BYU at top,” Tramel said.
“I think the quarterback is gonna make a difference,” he continued. “Bachmeier’s gonna be a lot better.”
In his freshman season, Bachmeier passed for over 3,000 yards, rushed for 527 yards and threw 15 touchdowns. He also tacked on 11 rushing touchdowns and threw just seven interceptions. Moving into his sophomore year, the playbook is more open for Bachmeier, and expectations are higher than ever.
Tramel did acknowledge that if Sorsby was playing for Texas Tech this season that his opinion would change.
“Sorsby was gonna make (Texas) Tech’s offense better, but I’m not sure Will Hammond will do that,” he said.
Hammond started two games in place of Behren Morton last year but played in eight. During that time Hammond showed his undeniable talent, putting up 680 passing yards, seven touchdowns and only three interceptions.
His season was highlighted by a win at Utah, where he went 13-of-16 for 169 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions after stepping in for Morton, who left with an injury. Hammond also stepped up in the team’s only regular season loss, to Arizona State, where he finished with 167 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception.
Hammond is by no means a major cause for concern when it comes to skill, but his injury combined with his limited experience is going to restrict how much of the playbook will be available to him, making him a big question mark.
Texas Tech is returning running backs Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams, who combined make up one the most elite running back duos in the country, but if Hammond struggles to provide a dynamic air attack, defenses can load the box and severely limit Texas Tech’s run game.
BYU also features a dynamic running game in the aforementioned Martin. BYU’s depth at the position doesn’t match Texas Tech’s, at least on paper, however don’t discount Sione Moa, who is returning this year after struggling with an injury last season.
BYU’s offensive line is another huge point of emphasis for the Cougars that doesn’t get enough attention. Last year the unit finished the season ranked 43rd nationally in pass blocking and 15th nationally in run blocking.
First-team All-Big 12 center Bruce Mitchell is returning for his senior season along with veterans Andrew Gentry and Kyle Sfarcioc. Paki Finau, a transfer from Washington, made some noise in spring ball and is anticipated to start at left tackle.
Bleacher Report has the Cougars’ offensive line ranked as the best in the nation coming into this season.
“I have a little bit more faith in the BYU offense than I do in the Texas Tech offense,” said Tramel.
The biggest talking point for Texas Tech, outside of the quarterback question mark, is its defense, which is ranked No. 1 nationally by CBS Sports and stacked to the rafters with talent.
Despite losing its star edge rusher David Bailey to the NFL along with linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, the Red Raiders reloaded from the portal with the addition of edge rusher Trey White from San Diego State and linebacker Austin Romaine from Kansas State.
The Red Raiders also retained Ben Roberts, the veteran linebacker who is expected to be the defensive signal caller this season. AP 2nd Team All-American AJ Holmes Jr. is returning and will play a major role on the defensive line.
CBS Sports has BYU’s defense ranked 20th in the nation despite retaining 69% of their roster. The Cougars did lose their defensive coordinator Jay Hill, however Kelly Poppinga, the new in-house hire for the position, has worked with the BYU defense since 2022.
BYU didn’t lose a single starter to the transfer portal and picked up Cade Uluave out of the portal to help replace Jack Kelly, who was drafted to the New York Giants in the seventh round. Uluave, who transferred from Cal, led the team in tackles last season with 97.
However, the biggest question mark for BYU is at the wide receiver position. After losing its go-to guy Chase Roberts to the NFL and breakout star Parker Kingston, who was dismissed from the team after legal allegations, the Cougars' wide receiver room is unproven. During the summer, Cody Hagen announced his medical retirement, doing even more damage to the room’s depth.
The veteran of the room is JoJo Phillips, who broke his collarbone and sat out for the large majority of the 2025 season. He finished the year with 14 receptions for 161 yards, which is pretty good all things considered.
However, those 14 receptions are part of his career 25 receptions in his three years at BYU. Overcoming his lack of experience is going to be a make-or-break for Phillips this year.
BYU did pick up Kyler Kasper in the transfer portal from Oregon to add to the arsenal. But, once again, the lack of experience speaks volumes. Kasper struggled with a foot injury for the majority of his time at Oregon and has only six total receptions in the last four years.
There are definitely other wide receivers waiting in the wings for their chance to shine for BYU, like Reggie Frischknecht and Tiger Bachmeier, but both have limited in-game experience.
Another factor to consider is scheduling. The Red Raiders avoid BYU, Utah and Kansas State, the next best three teams in the conference. Their non-conference schedule doesn’t help either, with Abilene Christian, Oregon State and Sam Houston on the docket.
Texas Tech’s hardest games are against Houston, Arizona State and Arizona, which are all in Lubbock and don’t face any significant road tests. While this schedule favors breaking in a new quarterback, it doesn’t favor its strength of schedule over BYU.
BYU’s hardest games include a trip to Salt Lake City to take on the third-best team in the conference, the Utah Utes, and home games against Arizona, Arizona State and Notre Dame. Its non-conference schedule doesn’t help much either, with Utah Tech opening the season and a Week 3 game at Colorado State.
However, the Notre Dame game in October arguably makes up for it.
While the Cougars do have their toughest games in Provo, they also take on TCU in Fort Worth (Texas Tech plays TCU at home this year) and play at Kansas in Week 11, where they have never won a game.
To put this all in perspective, ESPN ranks BYU’s strength of schedule at 55 overall in the nation and ninth in the conference. Texas Tech’s strength of schedule comes in at 71 overall and dead last in the conference.
With all of these factors taken into consideration, both teams are pretty evenly matched with upsides and downsides in both the offensive and defensive groups. At the end of the day, the difference between these two teams could truly come down to the quarterback position, in which BYU holds the advantage.
Bachmeier’s experience, combined with Martin in the backfield, a veteran offensive line and a tougher schedule, the Cougars have a strong case to replace Texas Tech as the top dog in the Big 12.
“I’m bullish on BYU,” said Tramel. “I think they're going to have a great year.”