Texas Tech Basketball Building Tougher Non-Con Schedule In 2017-18

With this week’s report that the Texas Tech basketball team will face Seton Hall in New York City this year, the Red Raiders’ 2017-18 non-conference schedule is taking shape and it already looks to be more rigorous than last season’s.

The 2016-17 Texas Tech basketball season was a disappointment under the guidance of first-year head coach Chris Beard. The Red Raiders failed to earn an invitation to any postseason tournament following 2016’s unexpected run to the NCAA Tournament.

One of the reasons for the underperformance of last year’s team was the exceptionally weak non-conference schedule. However, the 2017-18 non-conference slate is already shaping up to be far more challenging.

CBSSports.com bracketology expert Jerry Palm ranked the Texas Tech non-conference schedule No. 336 out of 351 teams last season while ESPN.com ranked it No. 338. That was a drop of 321 spots from 2015-16 when the Red Raiders’ non-conference schedule was 17th toughest in the country.

But now that Chris Beard has had over a full year to put his stamp on the program, it appears that Texas Tech basketball is seeking tougher competition. Though the full schedule for this year is yet to be released, a few early-season games and one mid-season out of conference game has been made public.

In just that handful of games, the Red Raiders will already be facing tougher non-Big 12 teams than last season.

Tech is set to participate in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament November 18th and 19th in Connecticut. They will open with Boston College which is coming off a dreadful 9-23 2016-17 campaign. However, the competition will ratchet up in the next game where Tech will face either Northwestern (which made the NCAA Tournament last year) or LaSalle.

By playing just those two games at a neutral site, the Red Raiders will play as many non-conference games away from Lubbock as they did a season ago. And this week, the schedule became even more challenging.

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It is being reported that Texas Tech and Seton Hall will square off at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of an event sponsored by Under Armor. This will be a virtual road game against a team that is ranked in the preseason top 25 by Bleacher Report, “The Sporting News”, “USA Today” and numerous other publications.

As if that’s not enough, Texas Tech basketball will participate in the annual Big 12 – SEC Challenge in February. The Red Raiders will travel to South Carolina to face the Gamecocks which reached the Final Four last season.

While this schedule might feel a bit daunting, fans should welcome the challenge because it will toughen the senior-laden Red Raiders. Perhaps these non-conference battles will better prepare Tech for the rigors of Big 12 play.

Last year’s team lacked a killer instinct and continually failed to close out toss-up games. Beard watched his team lose six games by two scores or fewer (five in Big 12 play) and another in double-overtime.

Furthermore, Texas Tech failed to win even one road game in league play. The team’s lone road win came in December against Richmond.

It is obvious that last year’s Texas Tech basketball team was not prepared to succeed when the competition stiffened in Big 12 play. There are several reasons for those struggles but the weak non-conference schedule is chief among them.

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Fortunately, Chris Beard is taking steps to remedy that shortcoming this season. While the Red Raiders may take a few more lumps early in the season, the team should be far more prepared to grind it out in one of the toughest basketball leagues in the nation.

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