In 2013, Texas Tech's football staff featured six former Red Raider players, led by a 34-year-old with all of five years of college coaching experience. Feeling somewhat hyperbolic as I counted down the minutes for the season-opener, I sent out a tweet labeling the program's gamble on Kingsbury the Grand Experiment.

Nine weeks later, the Grand Experiment was 7-0 and ranked No. 10 in the AP Top 25. Kingsbury was the toast of college football, Texas Tech football was fun and Red Raider fans were united in their joy after three trying seasons under Tommy Tuberville.

Since that point, the Grand Experiment is 17-26 overall and 9-23 in the Big 12. The six former Texas Tech players on Kingsbury's initial staff have, over time, been whittled down to three - Kingsbury, offensive coordinator Eric Morris and first-year offensive line coach Brandon Jones. Four years later, that ebullient 2013 fanbase has become tinged with cynicism and division.

Kingsbury's future with the program has been the dominant Red Raider football topic since his team's ignominious 66-10 loss to Iowa State in November. He enters the season squarely on the hot seat, with fans and media widely assuming that he must guide this Texas Tech team to at least six wins in order to save his job.

The 2017 season will either be the Grand Experiment's final hour, or its finest.