Read that ESPN Big 12 preview calling Texas Tech the team to beat and I just sat there shaking my head. Back in the 1998 Sun Bowl season we didn't need preseason predictions to know what we had. We knew because we lined up and hit people in the mouth. This league is soft now. Everyone worrying about which quarterback is portal-hopping and which transfer class ranked highest. You know what Gary Patterson would have said about all this nonsense? He would have looked at that depth chart and said go earn it. The 2005 squad that ran the option through the Mountain West had walk-ons starting at linebacker because they were tougher than the scholarship guys. That is what built this program. Not NIL collectives and portal rankings. I will believe we are contenders when I see our offensive line drive a defensive front off the ball in September. Not when some writer in Bristol types up a prediction.