I have probably started writing something like this a dozen times since Saturday, each time trying (and failing) to put a unique spin on the unlikeliness of Texas Tech’s Big 12 crown. Every time I start, trying to explain how improbable this all is in a way that is somehow different than the dozens of other columns already written, I get derailed by a single row on the Red Raiders’ Wikipedia page.
8-23. 1-17.
Texas Tech’s 2011-12 season under Billy Clyde Gillispie.
How is it possible that the program that suffered through that miserable season is the one that ended Kansas’ stranglehold on the Big 12 regular season crown?
I watched all – okay, most – of the games. I followed the Red Raiders’ recruiting efforts – the Keith Frazier hysteria, the Chris Boucher pursuit, Chris Beard’s immediate pursuit of Jarrett Culver and the program’s historic 2019 class. I’ve interviewed all the head coaches, most of the assistants and a good amount of the players that have been part of the program over the last seven years. Simply stated – to steal a Beardism – I was there, like many of you, at every step along the way and I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around Texas Tech’s new reality as the best in the Big 12.
It’s like going from the 1903 Wright Flyer to the F-22 Raptor in seven years. Each step forward makes sense when you're living through it, but it's mind-blowing to zoom out and see the huge jump from then to now.
SCATTERSHOOTING TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL RECRUITING
… Terrence Shannon is the sixth four-star prospect to commit to Texas Tech in the last two recruiting classes. In the 16 classes prior, the program signed a total of three: Terry Martin, Jr. and Dior Lowhorn in 2005, Javarez “Bean” Willis in 2010.
… It would not surprise me one bit if Jahmius Ramsey ends up ranked as a five-star prospect in the next iteration of the Rivals150. I don’t know anything concrete, but both Eric Bossi and Corey Evans singled out Ramsey as a four-star prospect that deserves a rankings bump in their recent Rivals Roundtable.
… The Red Raiders’ five-man 2019 recruiting class currently ranks first in the Big 12 and No. 14 nationally, just ahead of No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 16 Texas.
… For as much focus as there has been on how the development of Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver will help Texas Tech’s high school recruiting efforts, the same should be said for Matt Mooney and Tariq Owens and the grad transfer market.
ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
Texas Tech’s football program now stands alone among the four prominent sports on campus. Despite a near-constant state of facility upgrades over the last 20 years, the Red Raiders have yet to field a Big 12 champion or finish as one of the top-10 teams in the country.
In the university’s Big 12 era, it’s becoming harder and harder to explain away the football program’s lack of tangible on-field accomplishments relative to its counterparts on campus and many of its league peers.
The men’s basketball team won the Big 12 this year, reached the Elite Eight last season and is currently ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25.
The Lady Raiders won three-straight Big 12 titles from 1998-2000 and last reached the Elite Eight in 2003.
The baseball program has Big 12 banners from 1997, 1998, 2016 and 2017, has made three trips to the College World Series and was a consensus top-five team heading into the 2019 season.
The Red Raider football program has just five top-25 finishes since joining the Big 12, none higher than the 2008 team’s No. 12 final ranking and none since Mike Leach’s dismissal in 2009. Texas Tech’s post-Leach era has featured nine-straight losing Big 12 seasons and eight bottom-half Big 12 finishes.
Sure, it’s hard to win Big 12 football games and any path to a league title will go through power programs such as Oklahoma and Texas. But is the football team’s path any more difficult than the game-to-game grind of Big 12 basketball? Not from where I’m sitting.
PREDICTION
Texas Tech beats Baylor on Saturday to win the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City.
8-23. 1-17.
Texas Tech’s 2011-12 season under Billy Clyde Gillispie.
How is it possible that the program that suffered through that miserable season is the one that ended Kansas’ stranglehold on the Big 12 regular season crown?
I watched all – okay, most – of the games. I followed the Red Raiders’ recruiting efforts – the Keith Frazier hysteria, the Chris Boucher pursuit, Chris Beard’s immediate pursuit of Jarrett Culver and the program’s historic 2019 class. I’ve interviewed all the head coaches, most of the assistants and a good amount of the players that have been part of the program over the last seven years. Simply stated – to steal a Beardism – I was there, like many of you, at every step along the way and I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around Texas Tech’s new reality as the best in the Big 12.
It’s like going from the 1903 Wright Flyer to the F-22 Raptor in seven years. Each step forward makes sense when you're living through it, but it's mind-blowing to zoom out and see the huge jump from then to now.
SCATTERSHOOTING TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL RECRUITING
… Terrence Shannon is the sixth four-star prospect to commit to Texas Tech in the last two recruiting classes. In the 16 classes prior, the program signed a total of three: Terry Martin, Jr. and Dior Lowhorn in 2005, Javarez “Bean” Willis in 2010.
… It would not surprise me one bit if Jahmius Ramsey ends up ranked as a five-star prospect in the next iteration of the Rivals150. I don’t know anything concrete, but both Eric Bossi and Corey Evans singled out Ramsey as a four-star prospect that deserves a rankings bump in their recent Rivals Roundtable.
… The Red Raiders’ five-man 2019 recruiting class currently ranks first in the Big 12 and No. 14 nationally, just ahead of No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 16 Texas.
… For as much focus as there has been on how the development of Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver will help Texas Tech’s high school recruiting efforts, the same should be said for Matt Mooney and Tariq Owens and the grad transfer market.
ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
Texas Tech’s football program now stands alone among the four prominent sports on campus. Despite a near-constant state of facility upgrades over the last 20 years, the Red Raiders have yet to field a Big 12 champion or finish as one of the top-10 teams in the country.
In the university’s Big 12 era, it’s becoming harder and harder to explain away the football program’s lack of tangible on-field accomplishments relative to its counterparts on campus and many of its league peers.
The men’s basketball team won the Big 12 this year, reached the Elite Eight last season and is currently ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25.
The Lady Raiders won three-straight Big 12 titles from 1998-2000 and last reached the Elite Eight in 2003.
The baseball program has Big 12 banners from 1997, 1998, 2016 and 2017, has made three trips to the College World Series and was a consensus top-five team heading into the 2019 season.
The Red Raider football program has just five top-25 finishes since joining the Big 12, none higher than the 2008 team’s No. 12 final ranking and none since Mike Leach’s dismissal in 2009. Texas Tech’s post-Leach era has featured nine-straight losing Big 12 seasons and eight bottom-half Big 12 finishes.
Sure, it’s hard to win Big 12 football games and any path to a league title will go through power programs such as Oklahoma and Texas. But is the football team’s path any more difficult than the game-to-game grind of Big 12 basketball? Not from where I’m sitting.
PREDICTION
Texas Tech beats Baylor on Saturday to win the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City.
