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Texas Tech basketball moves up three spots to No. 11

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - FEBRUARY 23: Tariq Owens #11 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders dunks the basketball during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on February 23, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - FEBRUARY 23: Tariq Owens #11 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders dunks the basketball during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on February 23, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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The Texas Tech basketball team moved up three spots in this week’s national polls to sit at No. 11 after a dominating win over Kansas.

Monday, the Texas Tech basketball team jumped three spots in the polls to sit just outside the top-10 at No. 11 after Saturday night’s 29-point blowout of Kansas on national television.  It is the third-straight week in which the Red Raiders have made a jump in the polls.

Overall, Gonzaga is the new No. 1 team in both polls while Virginia, Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina round out the top-5.  The Red Raiders are the highest-ranked Big 12 team this week as Kansas fell to No 15 in the Associate Press poll and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll.

Kansas State is ranked right next to their in-state rival in both polls checking in at No. 16 in the A.P. and No. 15 in the Coaches.  Meanwhile, Iowa State dropped out of both polls after losing at TCU Saturday.

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Just three weeks ago, Chris Beard’s team was headed in the wrong direction.  After losing to Kansas on February 2nd  for their fourth Big 12 loss in five games, Tech sat at No. 18, the lowest it had been ranked since breaking into the polls at No. 20 all the way back in the fourth week of the season.

But what is frustrating some Texas Tech fans is how difficult it has been for the Red Raiders to climb their way back towards the top-10.  And as is the case in the real world, it is far easier to drop in the polls than it is to rise.

Prior to Tech’s 3-game losing streak in January, the Red Raiders sat at No. 8 in the nation.  But losses to Iowa State and Baylor dropped them six spots.  What’s more, Tech fell two more spots the next week after a 1-1 week that included a road loss at Kansas State and a win over Arkansas.

Then, in the week-14 poll, Tech fell two more spots after beating TCU but losing to the Jayhawks.  Fortunately, for the last three weeks, the Red Raiders have been the hottest team in the Big 12, winning five-consecutive games.

And it appears even more difficult for Tech to rise in the all-important NCAA NET Rankings.  The Red Raiders remain at No. 10 in the metric used by the tournament selection committee. The rankings in the NET seem to be growing stagnant as more data is accumulated throughout the season.  In fact, of the top 25 teams in the latest NET Rankings, only six have seen their position change.

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For now, Texas Tech fans will have to live with being the first team  outside of the top-10.  But that is something we should all appreciate considering the fact that there was a time in the not-too-distant past when Texas Tech basketball might have been one of the ten worst programs in the nation.

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