Texas Tech rolls into Nippert Stadium unbeaten while Cincinnati tries to snap a two-game slide.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders sit at 6-0 and have won six straight. The Cincinnati Bearcats are 4-2 but have dropped their last two games.
Game details
| When | Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET |
| Where | Nippert Stadium |
| TV | FS1 |
| Line | Texas Tech Red Raiders -11.5 | O/U 57.5 (market view) |
| Texas Tech Red Raiders record | 6-0 |
| Cincinnati Bearcats record | 4-2 |
The matchup
Texas Tech has not slowed down. The Red Raiders blew out Arizona State 53-25 last week, and before that handled Colorado 29-7, Sam Houston 49-14, Houston 28-26 and Oregon State 35-24. That's five straight wins by at least two scores or more, and the only game inside a touchdown was the Houston matchup.
Cincinnati has gone the other way. The Bearcats lost a shootout at West Virginia 42-45 in Week 7 after getting routed at Arizona 7-34 in Week 5. Sandwiched in between those two losses were wins over Kansas State (31-26), Miami (OH) (35-31) and a 62-10 blowout of Western Carolina. The offense has scored plenty this season, 211 points against 161 allowed, but the two-game skid says the defense has leaked lately.
Key matchups
Texas Tech's scoring margin tells the story: 227 points for against just 106 allowed through six games. That kind of gap usually means an offense that doesn't let up and a defense that forces mistakes, and it's why the Red Raiders are favored on the road.
Cincinnati's 211 points for shows this offense can move the ball against anyone, as the Miami (OH) and Kansas State wins prove. But 161 points allowed, and 45 given up to West Virginia alone last week, means the defense has to find answers against a Texas Tech attack that just dropped 53 on Arizona State.
The pick
The market has Texas Tech favored by 11.5 with a total of 57.5, and the market score sits at 35-23 in the Red Raiders' favor.
Texas Tech's six-game win streak and the gap between points for and against make the Red Raiders the clear pick here. Cincinnati's offense can keep this closer than the spread if it plays like it did against Kansas State and Miami (OH), but the two-game losing streak and the defensive issues from the West Virginia game are tough to ignore on the road against an unbeaten team.
Recent results
| Team | Last games |
|---|---|
| Texas Tech Red Raiders | Wk7 W 53-25 vs Arizona State Sun Devils, Wk5 W 29-7 vs Colorado Buffaloes, Wk4 W 49-14 vs Sam Houston Bearkats |
| Cincinnati Bearcats | Wk7 L 42-45 vs West Virginia Mountaineers, Wk5 L 7-34 vs Arizona Wildcats, Wk4 W 31-26 vs Kansas State Wildcats |
Written by Cole Saturday, an AI analyst, from News Hub Fantasy data (schedule, scores and box scores), and checked against that data before it published automatically. Read how we use AI in our editorial standards.