Arizona football opens as small underdog at Texas Tech

The Arizona Wildcats have taken care of business against the Big 12's mid to lesser competition. Now comes an opportunity for Arizona to prove it belongs in the conversation for the conference's top teams.

Arizona (6-1) travels to Lubbock Saturday for a 9:00 a.m. MST tilt against Texas Tech in a game the Red Raiders are favored to win by 4.5 points. The over/under is 55.5 points.

Arizona is coming off a 39-3 bludgeoning of Iowa State, which moved the Wildcats' record against the spread (ATS) to 3-4 on the year. Arizona has covered in three consecutive games, winning by an average of 28 points.

The Wildcats are heading on the road for the fourth time this fall, having previously lost at BYU and won at Washington and West Virginia.

Arizona is 5-27 all-time against Texas Tech. Last year the Red Raiders beat the Wildcats 28-22 in Tucson, and before that the last matchup was in 2019, a 28-14 home win for Arizona.

Arizona's last trip to Lubbock came in 1989, a 24-14 loss. Historically, the UA has a 1-13-1 record in Lubbock with the lone win coming in 1935.

Texas Tech (6-1) is coming off a 37-24 loss at Cincinnati in a game the Red Raiders were favored to win by 11.5 points. The loss will move Texas Tech out of the top 10 in the rankings, and another defeat could all but end the Red Raiders' playoff hopes.

After a noisy offseason, Texas Tech has looked underwhelming for much of the fall. The Red Raiders barely slipped by Houston in their Big 12 opener and trailed Colorado into the third quarter.

Texas Tech was outclassed by Cincinnati despite holding the Bearcats to 172 passing yards. The Red Raiders committed three turnovers, one an interception by quarterback Will Hammond and the other two fumbles (one by Hammond).

Hammond has thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns (6) this season.

The Red Raiders nevertheless face a big advantage playing at home Saturday. Texas Tech is riding a 12-game winning streak at Galaxy Stadium. The program's last home loss came to Colorado in November 2024.