Why Texas Tech fans should be pulling for the SEC in today’s slate of games

Today the higher’-ups at ESPN have decided that yet another themed slate of games is just what America needs to help us through the dark of winter. The Big 12 / SEC Challenge is nothing but an attempt at trying to draw ratings and interest to college basketball the week prior to the Super Bowl.

Giving a weekend of games a clichéd and corny title or trying to play upon conference pride to drive ratings is a transparent reach by television executives. But as long as the Big 12 is participating, Texas Tech fans should be chanting “SEC! SEC! SEC!” during every game except Red Raiders’.

Conference pride is about as overrated as Lil’ Wayne. Both are, in the words of Shakespeare, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.

What does the Big 12 stand to gain from today’s slate of games? According to CBSSports.com, the Big 12 remains ranked No. 1 in terms of overall conference RPI and has half of its teams ranked in the top-25. So if the league were to sweep the entire slate of games today, this exercise will prove what America already knows, that the Big 12 is the best basketball league in the nation.

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On the other hand, suppose the conference loses every game today. Will the Big 12 suddenly drop off of the college basketball map completely? Of course not.

So don’t get caught up in the attempt at manufactured league pride created for no reason than to increase ratings on what has traditionally been one of the year’s lowest rated sports viewing weekends. Texas Tech fans should be rooting for the Big 12 to go 1-9 today so long as that one win comes in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Seeing the Big 12 dominate the SEC will do nothing but make the teams with which Texas Tech has to compete on a yearly basis that much stronger. The featured game is Kansas vs. Kentucky in a matchup of programs that need as much extra adoration as does the prom queen. At least a Kansas loss would humble their fans and more importantly hurt their tournament resume.

Likewise, does any Texas Tech fan want to see Oklahoma dominate LSU and their superstar freshman Ben Simmons? Hearing the national experts throw rose pedals at the feet of the Sooners will only get more nauseating if they crush the Tigers (as they likely will).

Unfortunately, Texas Tech is lagging behind in the Big 12 conference basketball race and it is not making up any ground despite the overall improvement of the team because the Big 12 keeps getting better each year. If Texas Tech is going to become relevant on the hardwood again, the Red Raiders will have to make a move in a year when the conference is not the top league in the nation.

So as minute as one game against an SEC team might seem, winning today on national television is going to help every Big 12 team. A Texas victory over Vanderbilt will be a huge step in ensuring Shaka Smart is able to salvage his first season in Austin and likely avoid following in the slippery steps of Texas football coach Charlie Strong. As if the Big 12 isn’t tough enough, imagine how difficult life will be for Texas Tech if Smart reawakens the sleeping giant that is the Texas Longhorn program.

It is almost a virtual guarantee that Texas Tech is going to miss out on the NCAA tournament again this year, marking the ninth year in a row. Furthermore, an NIT birth grows less likely with each loss to a top-25 Big 12 team.

That means that in March, the conference rivals ahead of the Red Raiders will be showcased to the nation in the NCAA tournament. Thousands of high school recruits will see Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Kansas, Baylor and maybe another Big 12 team on the game’s biggest stage while the Red Raiders fade into obscurity once again.

On the recruiting trail, Tubby Smith will be forced to sell recruits on a program that’s best pitch is its improvement from last to close to last. Meanwhile, other Big 12 coaches will be able to point to tournament success and national exposure as reasons their programs are the best option.

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Conference pride is misguided when one is part of the top-5 athletic conferences in America. There is virtually nothing the Big 12 can do in any of the major sports to lose enough credibility to be ignored or discredited.

So today, as the Big 12 and SEC bash heads at the command of the overlords at ESPN, Texas Tech fans should wish for nothing short of failure for its conference brethren. The only way Tubby Smith can get his program back among the conference contenders is to have success as its competitors struggle. That is capitalism in action.

We are not Big 12 fans. We are Texas Tech fans and alumni. There is a huge difference and the success of the former makes the success of the latter much more difficult.