ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Tech megabooster Cody Campbell has made plenty of investments in his 44 years. There was real estate for a little bit early on. Then there was the oil industry, which made him a billionaire before he was 40. The resulting wealth brought influence; he now has the ear of the President of the United States on issues in college sports.
But as he walked the Texas Tech sideline on Saturday in jeans and a red quarter-zip as the final seconds ticked down, it was this moment that brought the school’s board chair to tears. Hugs with players, coaches, and former Red Raider players like himself.
An unprecedented roster investment from the new most famous booster in college football, with others, produced this moment: Texas Tech’s first Big 12 championship. A 34-7 win over BYU, another dominant performance. It’s Tech’s first real conference championship since 1976 in the now-defunct Southwest Conference (there was a five-way tie for second in 1994 when undefeated Texas A&M wasn’t eligible).
It’s Tech’s first outright conference championship since 1955, in the long-forgotten Border Conference. It also means a first-round bye in Tech’s first College Football Playoff appearance.
So, where does this return on investment rank?
“This one’s in the heart,” a teary-eyed Campbell said, tapping his chest. “There are a lot of things that make you money, but this means a lot.”
Texas Tech board chair Cody Campbell and GM James Blanchard, who led the way in putting this roster together, enjoy an investment paid off.
Tech’s first outright conference title since 1955. pic.twitter.com/lOr1jDDpKv
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 6, 2025
Tech not only has a team that finally crossed that conference championship barrier, but it also has one ready to shake up the Playoff.
As hundreds of millions of dollars have flowed to college football rosters in recent years, no one was as public about embracing it as Texas Tech. The school had to. Other programs have spent tens of millions, too — Ohio State’s national championship roster cost around $20 million last year — but Texas Tech had to pay a premium. It wasn’t a traditional power with annual paths to the CFP and the NFL Draft. The Red Raiders had never even played in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Rival coaches were surprised Texas Tech offered more than double the going rate for certain players. The roster totaled at least $25 million. The defensive line alone was $7 million. A nontraditional school doing this upset the apple cart.
“They’ve built the best team money can buy,” one Big 12 head coach told The Athletic before the season. “But if they don’t win the Big 12, holy cow.”
They did.
The Red Raiders welcomed doubters, people who questioned if this would be a team of mercenaries. Instead, they stormed through the Big 12, now 12-1 overall with all 12 wins coming by at least 22 points. They won at Utah. They pounded BYU at home. The only loss came at Arizona State, when the team was without starting quarterback Behren Morton. The defense leads the nation with 31 takeaways, including four on Saturday, and it’s third in points per game allowed and yards per play allowed.
“There was no selfishness,” Morton said after the win. “There was no, ‘I’m making this amount of money, and I have one year left.’ It has not been at all in the locker room. That’s what really makes us click. Guys just want to win football games.”
This wasn’t a one-year money drive either. Four years ago, Campbell, athletic director Kirby Hocutt and other Texas Tech dignitaries met coach Joey McGuire at the airport in Waco to interview him for the head coaching job. The Red Raiders wanted to hire a coach before the season ended, and McGuire took the jump. McGuire was a Texas high school coaching legend with three state championships at Cedar Hill, and a Baylor assistant at the time. Texas Tech hired him and began providing the resources to start winning. Facilities, staff salaries, and eventually, players.
Four years later, less than 30 minutes north of Cedar Hill up Highway 360, McGuire won the Big 12 championship.
“I’ll be there for the rest of my life,” McGuire said, referencing a new contract extension he signed last week. “Man, I’m a Texan. I ain’t been anywhere else. I’ll never be anywhere else. I’m proud to be the head coach at Texas Tech, and this team’s not done yet.”
The Red Raiders will get a first-round bye. They’ll likely be right back here at AT&T Stadium for the Cotton Bowl, based on the geography of the top teams.
Back in June, McGuire told Morton that the two of them would win the Big 12 championship and walk off the Dallas Cowboys’ field together. He’d done it three times before, for those high school championships. For all the spending Texas Tech did in the offseason, McGuire didn’t look to find a quarterback to play over the fifth-year senior and Lubbock native. The Red Raiders believed in Morton all the way.
More than 20 minutes after the trophy had been awarded on Saturday, McGuire waited for Morton. The coach and quarterback found each other, embraced as they walked off the field, heads up, football up, Guns Up.
“We both, at different times, have been beat up for being a high school coach or being a guy that’s injured,” McGuire said. “We came out on top today.”
As Campbell walked toward the tunnel, Texas Tech band members yelled out, “That’s Cody Campbell!” Fans in sideline suites wanted pictures. College football’s new class of celebrities is the biggest donors. Instead of putting a name on a facility, they can directly pay for the team.
You can’t put a price on that winning feeling. A year ago, SMU did the same thing all the way to the College Football Playoff. There’s a New Money group in college football that doesn’t care about someone else’s tradition. It’s making its own.
“I think our chances are good,” Campbell said. “We’ve got a team that can play with anybody.”
