The question for this week's Roundtable is this: You can pick any game you want on Tech's schedule as a win. Any game. However, you must also pick two definite losses to accompany it. Go.
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Level: Am I wrong to answer with TCU and then not care what the two losses were?!?! I'm tempted to answer it that way because beating TCU at home and derailing a potential national title bid and a Heisman campaign would be awfully sweet for any fan of the Red Raiders, especially with the way the game went between the two teams last year. So yeah, sign me up for that. As for the losses, I guess I'd take L's in Norman and Austin because you have had a hard time competing in those cities for a long, long time anyways, but a win over the folks in purple would be well worth it.
Dickens: I think the guaranteed win has to be TCU. It immediately provides some measure of redemption from last season's 82-27 debacle, serves as a signature home win and gives the team some momentum heading into a winnable matchup with Baylor -- five of the last seven meetings in this series have been one-score games -- in Arlington. If you have to eat two losses, give me an L against Arkansas and Oklahoma. I don't think you're going to be the Hawgs anyways, and Norman is always a tough out.
McKay: It didn't even take me 10 seconds to pick the win, and I'm guessing everyone else is going to answer the same team. Beating TCU early on in the year would be a staple win for the Red Raiders and Coach Kingsbury. Winning a game like that could really boost momentum, too, and the fact that you'd put a big landmine in the way of the Fightin' Gary Pattersons would be a plus, both for Tech fans and for national attention.
As for the two losses? I'll take a loss in Norman against OU, as that's a win that's almost impossible to pull off anyway, regardless of how good or bad the Sooners are . The second L I'll take will be at West Virginia. While there are a number of questions with their offense - and Holgo will get that straightened out - that Mountaineer defense is going to be so, so sneaky good this fall with arguably one of the best secondaries in the country.
Clare: Good question. Not hard to answer, but a lot of ways to go here. I'm guaranteeing a win against TCU at home on Sept. 26th. The week before the team travels to Fayettville and takes on Arkansas, which could end up being a pretty good game. I think they come home and play well against the Horned Frogs in Lubbock.
Now, the two games they will lose? The week TCU after against Baylor on Oct. 3rd in Dallas, then at West Virginia on Nov. 7th are my picks. Wins in consecutive weeks against TCU and Baylor will be difficult for any team in the nation, let alone Texas Tech this upcoming season. The game at OU seemed like an easy pick, but I believe Coach Holgorsen has a sneaky team up at WVU this season. Those are picks, but the games at OU and at home against Kansas State were tough to choose against.
Kohnle: For Tech next year, I’d take a guaranteed win against TCU while sacrificing guaranteed losses to West Virginia and Oklahoma. A win next year at home against a top-5 TCU team will do wonders for the player’s confidence and for the fans’ hope. A win against TCU will erase that bitter taste of 82 points they put on Tech last year and can re-establish the Jones as a tough place to play. By choosing the WVU and OU games as guaranteed losses, Tech’s season could fizzle out down the stretch, but this scenario though, at least gives Tech a hypothetical chance in the Arkansas game, the Baylor game, the Oklahoma State game, and the Texas game. Potential wins against any of those teams would help Tech more than wins against West Virginia and OU in my opinion. When Tech pulls the upset of TCU (in my scenario), the tone that that would set for the rest of the season could very well mean Tech pulls off a few more upsets down the road.
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Level: Am I wrong to answer with TCU and then not care what the two losses were?!?! I'm tempted to answer it that way because beating TCU at home and derailing a potential national title bid and a Heisman campaign would be awfully sweet for any fan of the Red Raiders, especially with the way the game went between the two teams last year. So yeah, sign me up for that. As for the losses, I guess I'd take L's in Norman and Austin because you have had a hard time competing in those cities for a long, long time anyways, but a win over the folks in purple would be well worth it.
Dickens: I think the guaranteed win has to be TCU. It immediately provides some measure of redemption from last season's 82-27 debacle, serves as a signature home win and gives the team some momentum heading into a winnable matchup with Baylor -- five of the last seven meetings in this series have been one-score games -- in Arlington. If you have to eat two losses, give me an L against Arkansas and Oklahoma. I don't think you're going to be the Hawgs anyways, and Norman is always a tough out.
McKay: It didn't even take me 10 seconds to pick the win, and I'm guessing everyone else is going to answer the same team. Beating TCU early on in the year would be a staple win for the Red Raiders and Coach Kingsbury. Winning a game like that could really boost momentum, too, and the fact that you'd put a big landmine in the way of the Fightin' Gary Pattersons would be a plus, both for Tech fans and for national attention.
As for the two losses? I'll take a loss in Norman against OU, as that's a win that's almost impossible to pull off anyway, regardless of how good or bad the Sooners are . The second L I'll take will be at West Virginia. While there are a number of questions with their offense - and Holgo will get that straightened out - that Mountaineer defense is going to be so, so sneaky good this fall with arguably one of the best secondaries in the country.
Clare: Good question. Not hard to answer, but a lot of ways to go here. I'm guaranteeing a win against TCU at home on Sept. 26th. The week before the team travels to Fayettville and takes on Arkansas, which could end up being a pretty good game. I think they come home and play well against the Horned Frogs in Lubbock.
Now, the two games they will lose? The week TCU after against Baylor on Oct. 3rd in Dallas, then at West Virginia on Nov. 7th are my picks. Wins in consecutive weeks against TCU and Baylor will be difficult for any team in the nation, let alone Texas Tech this upcoming season. The game at OU seemed like an easy pick, but I believe Coach Holgorsen has a sneaky team up at WVU this season. Those are picks, but the games at OU and at home against Kansas State were tough to choose against.
Kohnle: For Tech next year, I’d take a guaranteed win against TCU while sacrificing guaranteed losses to West Virginia and Oklahoma. A win next year at home against a top-5 TCU team will do wonders for the player’s confidence and for the fans’ hope. A win against TCU will erase that bitter taste of 82 points they put on Tech last year and can re-establish the Jones as a tough place to play. By choosing the WVU and OU games as guaranteed losses, Tech’s season could fizzle out down the stretch, but this scenario though, at least gives Tech a hypothetical chance in the Arkansas game, the Baylor game, the Oklahoma State game, and the Texas game. Potential wins against any of those teams would help Tech more than wins against West Virginia and OU in my opinion. When Tech pulls the upset of TCU (in my scenario), the tone that that would set for the rest of the season could very well mean Tech pulls off a few more upsets down the road.
