Texas Tech basketball back in the polls after beating No.1 Louisville

After taking down No. 1 Louisville last Tuesday, the Texas Tech basketball team is back in the top 25, but just barely.

It didn’t take long for the Texas Tech basketball team to fall out of the top 25. After back-to-back losses to Iowa and Creighton on consecutive nights at the Las Vegas Invitational in November, the Red Raiders fell from No. 12 in the nation to being unranked.

But all it took to get Chris Beard’s team back into the rankings was a little win over the No. 1 team in the country on the biggest of stages. After taking down previously unbeaten Louisville 70-57 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, Tech once again has a number next to its name.

However, sitting at No. 24 is a bit lower than most Red Raider fans expected. But with a record of just 6-3, Tech is one of only two 3-loss teams in the A.P. poll, which does show that there is some respect for this team.

No. 15 Michigan State is 7-3 on the year after beginning the season atop the polls. The difference in the Spartans’ three losses and Tech’s losses is that while all three of the Red Raiders’ defeats came at the hands of unranked teams, MSU has dropped games to No. 2 Kentucky, No. 10 Duke, and Virginia Tech.

While we know that the rankings in mid-December are rather meaningless, we also know that Beard is aware of where his team sits. That’s because after the win over Louisville, he referenced his team’s rapid fall out of the rankings.

"“Boy, we dropped out of that top 25 quick,” he said to ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the Louisville game. “We have a pretty good team, so hopefully people will remember that.”"

While it does appear like the pollsters remembered the Red Raiders, they might also still be a bit leery of putting as much trust in this team as they did to begin the year as Tech started the season at No. 13. That’s because Tech still remains 1-3 against Power 5 teams.

But Red Raider fans know that each of the three losses were one-score games as late as the 2-minute mark of the second half and the last two of those went to overtime. Also, all three of those losses ended without leading scorer Jahmi’us Ramsey on the court.

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This is a reminder that most voters, especially early in the year, don’t watch as many games as they likely should. Instead, they cast their votes largely on records. Had they watched Tech dismantle the Cardinals in New York, they would know that Beard’s team is better than the 24th-best in the nation.

Starting tonight, Tech has three games until Big 12 play and none will do much to help improve that ranking. But once Big 12 play begins, there appear to be some nice opportunities for Tech to bag some more noteworthy victories.

After opening conference play at home with Oklahoma State on January 4th, Tech then faces No. 10 Baylor in Lubbock on January 7th in what will be a key early Big 12 showdown. Then, Tech travels to West Virginia on January 11th to face a surprising Mountaineer team that is No. 25 this week thanks to a 9-1 start which includes only one Power 5 win, a 68-53 triumph over Pitt.

Of course, everyone is looking forward to the January 25 game against No. 6 Kentucky in Lubbock. But four days after that, WVU comes to Lubbock before Beard takes his team to Lawrence to face No. 1 Kansas on February 1st.

In other words, business is about to pick up for the Red Raiders. If you are a fan of stress-free basketball, you had better enjoy these final three non-conference games (knock on wood) because in just a couple of weeks, the meat of the schedule is going to arrive and the Big 12 is once again shaping up to be one of the toughest conferences in the nation.

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