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Tortilla Time! Texas Tech Tops SwampSwami Top 25
One of the oddest traditions in college football happens on Saturdays in Lubbock, Texas.
Thousands of Texas Tech Red Raider fans gleefully launch tortillas into the air like miniature Frisbees. Some tortillas will fly far enough to reach the football field.
It happens as the game kicks-off and, assuming there are enough tortillas still available, during every other Red Raider kick-off following a score by the home team.
Various stories exist about how this unusual 30+ year tradition came into existence.
The most logical version dates back to the early 1990’s. That’s when an ESPN announcer reportedly said that “Lubbock had nothing more than Texas Tech and a tortilla factory.”
The NCAA and Big 12 Conference have not been happy with the Texas Tech tortilla tossers.
The refs assessed the home team with 15-yard penalties on two occasions during last Saturday’s 42-17 rout of Kansas.
The Big 12 Conference athletic directors voted 15-1 in favor of disciplining home teams whose fans throw items onto the field of play during games.
Guess which school voted against it?
Texas Tech students attempted to push back a few years ago as 7,500 signed a Change.org petition requesting a presidential order from President Trump (during his first term) to permit the tortilla toss tradition to continue.
Apparently, the requested executive order (wait for it) fell flat!
Texas Tech fans should (safely, of course) toss a tortilla into the air today in celebration.
That’s because the SwampSwamiSports.com Top 25 has elevated the Red Raiders into the coveted #1 position in this week’s latest FBS rankings.
This week’s new #1 team is 6-0 with the Red Raiders’ best win of the season coming on the road.
They soundly defeated 5-1 Utah by an impressive 34-10 margin.
Texas Tech emerged from a massive traffic jam of ten teams with a 6-0 record for games played through October 11. One one more competitor (Miami, FL) is close behind at 5-0.
The Red Raiders will be tested on the road this Saturday and face 4-2 Arizona State in Tempe. Kick-off is at 3PM CDT on FOX.
Last week’s only 6-0 team (Memphis) fell back into #5 this week after their bye week.
Game of the week (which almost no one saw): UNLV 51, Air Force 48
This ping-pong match saw six lead changes and 48 points scored – in the fourth quarter alone!
The Runnin’ Rebs scored the go-ahead touchdown with only 39 seconds left. However, Air Force soared down the field but missed a potential game-tying 40-yard field goal as time expired.
UNLV (now 6-0 and ranked #9 in this week’s SwampSwamiSports.com Top 25) allowed 1-5 Air Force to convert a whopping 32 first downs and rumble for 428 yards on the ground. The Runnin’ Rebs connected for 377 yards via the air and rushed for another 220 yards to keep pace.
These two defensively-challenged Mountain West teams combined for 1,200 yards of total offense last Saturday.
Penn State begins writing HUGE annual checks to ex-coach James Franklin
I was quite surprised to learn that Penn State fired long-time head coach James Franklin on Sunday after the football team’s disappointing 3-3 start. The Nittany Lions went 13-3 last season and were eliminated in the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs.
Somehow, the former Vanderbilt coach will find some financial solace in being paid $7 million per year through the year 2031. His $49 million contract buyout is the second largest ever.
Jimbo “Richie Rich” Fisher was fired from Texas A&M two years ago.
He received a $76 million parting gift from some wealthy AggieLand athletics benefactors.
James Franklin won nearly 70% of his games (104-45) in his dozen years at Penn State. As I mentioned last week, Nick Saban’s four year coaching record at LSU featured “only” a 70% winning percentage but included one national championship.
Nick Saban to the rescue at Penn State?
Would Penn State try to lure the soon-to-be 74-year old coach Saban into making one final comeback?
Timing is everything.
Nick Saban has taken a long sabbatical and better understands the new NIL game being played in college football. He is a native of nearby northern Ohio, too.
The coach just might be a perfect fit for (let’s say) a 5-year gig in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania.
Personal note to Nick Saban – Do it!
You deserve better than having to share the ESPN College Football Game Day desk on Saturdays with that goofball Pat McAfee. Go for it, Coach!
Let’s unveil this week’s SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 FBS teams for the week ending Saturday, October 11, 2025. The small college FCS rankings will be published later today.
The post Tortilla Time! Texas Tech Tops SwampSwami Top 25 appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.
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By SwampSwamiSports.comOne of the oddest traditions in college football happens on Saturdays in Lubbock, Texas.
Thousands of Texas Tech Red Raider fans gleefully launch tortillas into the air like miniature Frisbees. Some tortillas will fly far enough to reach the football field.
It happens as the game kicks-off and, assuming there are enough tortillas still available, during every other Red Raider kick-off following a score by the home team.
Various stories exist about how this unusual 30+ year tradition came into existence.
The most logical version dates back to the early 1990’s. That’s when an ESPN announcer reportedly said that “Lubbock had nothing more than Texas Tech and a tortilla factory.”
The NCAA and Big 12 Conference have not been happy with the Texas Tech tortilla tossers.
The refs assessed the home team with 15-yard penalties on two occasions during last Saturday’s 42-17 rout of Kansas.
The Big 12 Conference athletic directors voted 15-1 in favor of disciplining home teams whose fans throw items onto the field of play during games.
Guess which school voted against it?
Texas Tech students attempted to push back a few years ago as 7,500 signed a Change.org petition requesting a presidential order from President Trump (during his first term) to permit the tortilla toss tradition to continue.
Apparently, the requested executive order (wait for it) fell flat!
Texas Tech fans should (safely, of course) toss a tortilla into the air today in celebration.
That’s because the SwampSwamiSports.com Top 25 has elevated the Red Raiders into the coveted #1 position in this week’s latest FBS rankings.
This week’s new #1 team is 6-0 with the Red Raiders’ best win of the season coming on the road.
They soundly defeated 5-1 Utah by an impressive 34-10 margin.
Texas Tech emerged from a massive traffic jam of ten teams with a 6-0 record for games played through October 11. One one more competitor (Miami, FL) is close behind at 5-0.
The Red Raiders will be tested on the road this Saturday and face 4-2 Arizona State in Tempe. Kick-off is at 3PM CDT on FOX.
Last week’s only 6-0 team (Memphis) fell back into #5 this week after their bye week.
Game of the week (which almost no one saw): UNLV 51, Air Force 48
This ping-pong match saw six lead changes and 48 points scored – in the fourth quarter alone!
The Runnin’ Rebs scored the go-ahead touchdown with only 39 seconds left. However, Air Force soared down the field but missed a potential game-tying 40-yard field goal as time expired.
UNLV (now 6-0 and ranked #9 in this week’s SwampSwamiSports.com Top 25) allowed 1-5 Air Force to convert a whopping 32 first downs and rumble for 428 yards on the ground. The Runnin’ Rebs connected for 377 yards via the air and rushed for another 220 yards to keep pace.
These two defensively-challenged Mountain West teams combined for 1,200 yards of total offense last Saturday.
Penn State begins writing HUGE annual checks to ex-coach James Franklin
I was quite surprised to learn that Penn State fired long-time head coach James Franklin on Sunday after the football team’s disappointing 3-3 start. The Nittany Lions went 13-3 last season and were eliminated in the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs.
Somehow, the former Vanderbilt coach will find some financial solace in being paid $7 million per year through the year 2031. His $49 million contract buyout is the second largest ever.
Jimbo “Richie Rich” Fisher was fired from Texas A&M two years ago.
He received a $76 million parting gift from some wealthy AggieLand athletics benefactors.
James Franklin won nearly 70% of his games (104-45) in his dozen years at Penn State. As I mentioned last week, Nick Saban’s four year coaching record at LSU featured “only” a 70% winning percentage but included one national championship.
Nick Saban to the rescue at Penn State?
Would Penn State try to lure the soon-to-be 74-year old coach Saban into making one final comeback?
Timing is everything.
Nick Saban has taken a long sabbatical and better understands the new NIL game being played in college football. He is a native of nearby northern Ohio, too.
The coach just might be a perfect fit for (let’s say) a 5-year gig in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania.
Personal note to Nick Saban – Do it!
You deserve better than having to share the ESPN College Football Game Day desk on Saturdays with that goofball Pat McAfee. Go for it, Coach!
Let’s unveil this week’s SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 FBS teams for the week ending Saturday, October 11, 2025. The small college FCS rankings will be published later today.
The post Tortilla Time! Texas Tech Tops SwampSwami Top 25 appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.