Defense got Texas Tech to the CFP. Are Red Raiders ready for biggest test yet? | Sports

DALLAS — The optimist’s perspective of a four-month college football season and the playoffs that ensue suggest that the teams left alive to play for a championship have seen it all or done it all on the paths that led them there.

The pessimist’s perspective — or, save for maybe those who played the toughest schedules in the SEC or Big Ten, the realist’s perspective — suggests that there are few ideal regular-season comparisons for the nation’s elite teams that stand in the way of advancement.

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