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Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders back in the top 25

By Matthew Conner

AMES, IA - FEBRUARY 22: Jahmi'us Ramsey #3 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders drives the ball as Prentiss Nixon #11 of the Iowa State Cyclones defends in the second half of the play at Hilton Coliseum on February 22, 2020 in Ames, Iowa. The Texas Tech Red Raiders won 87-57 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - FEBRUARY 22: Jahmi'us Ramsey #3 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders drives the ball as Prentiss Nixon #11 of the Iowa State Cyclones defends in the second half of the play at Hilton Coliseum on February 22, 2020 in Ames, Iowa. The Texas Tech Red Raiders won 87-57 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images) /
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Monday, the Texas Tech basketball team rejoined the top 25 after wins against Kansas State and Iowa State last week.

As February nears its end, the Texas Tech basketball team is back in the top 25.  Hopefully, that portends a run of success over the next month.

Last week, Tech picked up a less than inspiring 69-60 win over Kansas State and a monumental 87-57 victory over Iowa State in Ames to move to 5-1 in the last six games.  Since a 78-75 loss at Kansas in February 1st, the only game the Red Raiders have dropped this month was the 73-70 loss at Oklahoma State on the 15th.

As a result, the Red Raiders check in at No. 22 in the Associated Press poll and No. 21 in the Coach’s poll this week.  It is the first time they’ve been ranked since sitting at No. 24 prior to the loss to the Cowboys. They are the lowest-ranked of four Big 12 teams in this week’s rankings.

Kansas sits at No. 1 overall after beating Baylor in Waco on Saturday.  Previously No. 1, the Bears fell just one spot to No. 2 after their 3-point setback, their first loss since November.

Gonzaga sits at No. 3 in the AP and No. 4 in the Coach’s poll while Daylon is No. 4 in the AP and No. 3 in the Coach’s.  San Diego State, which lost Saturday to UNLV is at No. 5 in both sets of rankings.

The only other Big 12 team in the rankings is West Virginia.  After falling to TCU in Fort Worth on Saturday, the Mountaineers are down three spots in the AP poll to No. 20 but down just one spot in the Coach’s poll to No. 19.

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Some Tech fans may have a legitimate gripe about the Mountaineers remaining ahead of the Red Raiders in the polls.  WVU has lost four of its last five games with two of those losses come at the hands of unranked teams, OU and TCU.

Additionally, the Mountaineers sit two games back of Tech in the Big 12 standings at 7-7 overall.  With four games left to play for both teams, it would seem that Tech is destined to finish ahead of the Mountaineers in the race for third place behind Kansas and Baylor in the league standings.

In the latest round of bracketology predictions, Tech is squarely in the field of 68 but not in all that great of a position to get out of the first weekend.  USA Today has Tech as just a No. 8 seed meaning that a second-round game with No. 1 seed San Diego State would possibly be in store.

That’s also the situation CBS Sports has Tech in.  But whereas USA Today has Tech meeting Xavier in the first round, CBS has the Red Raiders facing Indiana before a possible showdown with the Aztecs.

Joe Lunardi over at ESPN.com sees the Red Raiders as a No. 7 seed facing No. 10 Virginia Tech.  That would set up a potential second-round showdown with No. 2 seed Maryland.  The good news would be that if Tech were to move on to the Sweet 16, they would play in Houston where they would have a huge crowd behind them.

Next. How Tech dismantled Iowa State. dark

Of course, there’s still an opportunity for the Red Raiders to take some steps toward a better seeding.  With games against OU, Baylor, and Kansas still to go in the regular season and the Big 12 Tournament left to be played, Chris Beard’s team can improve their postseason odds.  And the fact that they are playing better basketball in February is a reason to believe that this team is gearing up for another run in March.

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