Texas Tech lost some big defensive dudes after winning its first Big 12 Conference championship and making the College Football Playoff.
Six of them were taken in the NFL draft last April, four in the first three rounds. Edge rusher David Bailey was picked No. 2 overall after an FBS-leading 14 1/2 sacks in his only season with the Red Raiders. He was on The Associated Press All-America first team with quarterback-turned-linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, their leading tackler the past two seasons who was fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and drafted in the second round.
Even with all those players gone, the 12th-ranked Red Raiders could again have one of the nation’s top defenses. Coach Joey McGuire said they could actually be better because of their depth, including seven defensive tackles who have started college games.
“Yeah, I really do think the talent overall is way deeper. I mean, we’re three-deep on the D line. The whole secondary is back, way more experienced,” returning cornerback Brice Pollock said. “When you look at the linebackers, I think all of them can go to the league too. So I think we’re going to have even more draft picks this year.”
Well-funded Texas Tech again bolstered its roster with experienced players out of the transfer portal. It was similar to last year when adding the other since-departed draftees: third-team AP All-America defensive tackle Lee Hunter, edge rusher Romello Height, safety Cole Wisniewski and tackle Skyler Gill-Howard.
Bailey, after three seasons at Stanford, became the highest draft pick for the Red Raiders since tight end Dave Parks was their only first overall pick in 1964 by San Francisco. Three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Patrick Mahomes was the 10th overall pick by Kansas City in 2017.
Tech, which is home for its season opener Saturday night against FCS team Abilene Christian, also has back second-team AP All-America defensive tackle A.J. Holmes Jr. and fourth-year starting linebacker Ben Roberts, the defensive MVP in last year's Big 12 championship game when he had two interceptions.
“I think throughout the nation that we’re slowly earning that respect, is hey, we play defense in Lubbock, Texas,” Roberts said.
The Red Raiders were third nationally last season allowing 11.8 points and 258 total yards a game. That was 23 points and 203 yards less than 2024, the best year-by-year improvements by any FBS program since 2000. They had a national-best 32 takeaways last season, when 83.5% of the drives against them ended with a punt, turnover, or a turnover on downs.
“This year, all around, I think at every position, we have guys at an elite caliber,” Roberts said. “Sure, they don’t have the same freakness that some of those guys had last year, but we play with a different level of effort and a different level of like knowing your job beforehand. So I think in that area this might be a better defense than we’ve ever seen at Tech.”
Holmes came to the Red Raiders from Houston with defensive coordinator Shiel Wood, and said he knew during the first spring practice in 2025 that they were going to be a top defense because of all the talent.
“The same feeling I got last year, I’m getting it again,” Holmes said.
There are a dozen defensive newcomers going into at least their fourth year in college, among them senior transfer edge rushers Adam Trick and Trey White.
Trick had 12 1/2 tackles for losses last season at Miami (Ohio), and White at his hometown school San Diego State was one of only two players nationally with at least 19 sacks and 29 TFLs the past two seasons.
Wake Forest transfer Mateen Ibirogba was one of the top interior defensive lineman in the portal. Linebacker Austin Romaine had 184 tackles (110 solo) the past three seasons at Kansas State.
While they set a school record with 12 wins, and got a first-round playoff bye as a top-four seed, the 23-0 loss to Oregon in the Orange Bowl playoff quarterfinal still stings for the returning players.
“You’re hungrier for more because the way we ended wasn’t well,” Holmes said. “So last year was just a stepping stone, now it’s time to take that next step.”
Pollock said they talk a lot more about that Orange Bowl loss than their overall success.
“Last year kind of feels like a bad dream. Not like a nightmare, like I’m having a good dream and it ended early,” Roberts said. “So you want to go back to sleep and finish the dream.”
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FILE - Texas Tech defensive lineman Anthony Holmes Jr. (33) celebrates after a BYU turnover in the second half of a Big 12 Conference championship NCAA college football game, Dec. 6, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
FILE- Texas Tech defensive back Brice Pollock intercepts the ball during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Oregon State, Sept. 13, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Annie Rice, File)
FILE -Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, right, talks to linebacker Ben Roberts (13) during the Big 12 Conference championship NCAA college football game against BYU, Dec. 6, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina superstar Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international soccer on Monday, ending 21 years of national-team duty that were capped by winning the World Cup in 2022 to secure his place in the pantheon of the game's greatest ever players.
“It was a decision that hurt — and still hurts deeply — but I understand that the time has come,” the 39-year-old Messi said on his Instagram account.
Messi, who will continue to play at club level with Inter Miami in Major League Soccer, played in a record-tying six World Cups. He won it four years ago in a tournament he dominated in Qatar and also led Argentina to the title match in 2014 and again this year, when the Albiceleste lost to Spain in extra time in New Jersey.
Messi stands shoulder to shoulder with Diego Maradona, a compatriot with whom he was so often compared, and Brazil icon Pelé as the greatest players of all time.
For many, he's the best.
“I swear to you that I always gave it my all — not just in these last few years when we won everything, but before that too," Messi wrote. "I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey, to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football.”
Messi played 207 games for Argentina and finishes as its all-time leading scorer with 125 goals, 21 of them in World Cups. Only one player has more goals in men's internationals — his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 146 and has yet to announce his retirement from Portugal duty.
Messi became the all-time leading World Cup scorer for a month in the recent tournament in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, but finished one goal behind France’s Kylian Mbappé.
In a long social-media post, Messi explained he wrote his retirement letter on July 21 — two days after the World Cup final in which he struggled to make an impact — but waited to publish it because his father was facing health issues that eventually claimed his life.
Jorge Messi died on Aug. 8 in his native Rosario.
Two months after Messi starred at the 2005 world under-20 championship, scoring both of Argentina's goals in the final triumph, he was given his senior Argentina debut at 18. His first appearance lasted only two minutes; the substitute was sent off against Hungary in Budapest.
His journey with the national team was fraught with more frustration — he briefly retired from Argentina duty in 2016 after three defeats in three consecutive major finals — until he finally lifted the World Cup four years ago, either side of also winning Copa America titles in 2021 and '24.
“Thank you for all the love these past 20 years," he said. "I’m going to miss hearing you all from the inside so much. Now I’m going to be one of you, cheering and supporting you from the outside (through thick and thin, even more so).”
In the letter, Messi did not say how long he intends to continue playing. The recent World Cup showed he's still one of the best players in the world, as did a four-goal display for Inter Miami at the weekend in a 7-1 victory over CF Montreal.
“I leave with the peace of mind and pride of having given you — along with my teammates — moments we once only dreamed of. Experiencing this with you was incredible. I love you all,” he added.
Messi's stellar recent success with Argentina nearly didn’t happen.
A decade ago he retired from the national team following Argentina's defeat in the 2016 Copa Amercia final to Chile on penalty kicks — one of which he missed.
A public campaign led by Maradona and the president changed his mind and Messi shook off the notion of not being able to win the big matches, returning to the Argentina team and continuing to star for Barcelona, then Paris Saint-Germain, then Inter Miami.
He’s the two-time MVP in MLS, the star of the league champion and someone who still creates goals in the biggest moments.
He's also a record eight-time world player of the year.
“He is pure history,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said during the recent World Cup. “History. A legend.”
The retirement announcement sparked a wave of reactions.
The Argentine Football Association wrote: “Thank you for everything, Leo. Thank you for representing Argentina. Thank you for making us dream. Thank you for turning so many dreams into reality. The legend is yours, forever.”
Argentina and Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul highlighted on social media “your unconditional love for our country, your internal battles to never give up, your strength in always enduring injustices, and your leadership and character in your dealings with every player.”
Leandro Paredes, another Argentina teammate, said, “Thank you for absolutely everything. You are and always will be the greatest of all time. We love you, Captain.”
Defender Cristian Romero said: “I love you, I admire you, and I will always be grateful for the impact you’ve had on me and on our country. Thank you for so much, Captain.”
AP Sports writers Tim Reynolds and Steve Douglas contributed to this report.
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
FILE - Argentina's Angel Di Maria, top, celebrates with Argentina's Lionel Messi after scoring against Ecuador during a World Cup 2014 qualifying soccer game in Buenos Aires, June 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Ivan Fernandez, File)
FILE - People sing happy birthday to Lionel Messi at a street mural of him in Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
FILE - Argentina's Lionel Messi, left, competes for the ball with Nigeria's Danny Shittu, right, and Nigeria's Dickson Etuhu, center, during the World Cup group B soccer match in Johannesburg, South Africa, June 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) dribbles between England's Anthony Gordon (18) and Harry Kane (9) during the World Cup semifinal soccer match in Atlanta, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
FILE - Argentina's Lionel Messi scores his team's second goal during the group F World Cup soccer match against Bosnia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi reacts following an unsuccessful scoring attempt during the first half of an MLS soccer match against CF Montreal, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
