Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech basketball: Top questions facing Red Raiders during the offseason

By Matthew Conner

AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 08: Kevin McCullar #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders plays defense against the Texas Longhorns at The Frank Erwin Center on February 08, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 08: Kevin McCullar #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders plays defense against the Texas Longhorns at The Frank Erwin Center on February 08, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 8
Next
Guard Kyler Edwards #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Guard Kyler Edwards #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Texas Tech basketball fans have plenty of questions that we will eagerly wait to have answered over the course of this unexpectedly long offseason.

It will be over seven months before the Texas Tech basketball team returns to the court.  That reality hit hard once again on Thursday, the day that was supposed to be the start of the NCAA Tournament.

Had the Red Raiders qualified for this year’s Big Dance, it would have been the first time in the program’s history that Tech had been in the NCAA Tournament for three-straight seasons.  It also would have moved Chris Beard into a tie for second place for the most Tournament appearances by a Red Raider head coach.

Currently, Bob Knight and Gerald Myers lead the way with four appearances each.  Polk Robinson is second with three while Beard and James Dickey are the only other coaches to guide Tech to college basketball’s biggest event more than once.

To fill the void that the cancellation of this year’s NCAA Tournament has left in our lives, many websites are offering simulations or predictions as to what might have happened.  That’s going to be as close as we get to any real action this March.

This simulation from Alabama.com had No. 10 seed Tech losing in the first round to No. 7 seed Arizona.  Had that been what happened in real life, it would have been the 10th time the program had suffered a first-round loss in 18 all-time appearances.

The simulation over at NBCSports.com was just as quick to dismiss the Red Raiders.  In that bracket, the No. 11 seeded Raiders fell to No. 11 seed N.C. State in 76-75 in one of the “first four” games in Dayton, Ohio.  In some ways, a close loss in the closing moments to end the season would have surprised no one who followed Beard’s team all season.

ESPN.com’s simulation is more bullish on the Red Raiders.  In another No. 7 vs. No. 10 matchup with Arizona, that projection has Tech coming out on top.  In fact, ESPN says that Tech would have been the most likely double-digit seed to reach the Sweet 16.

In the end, speculation is all we have.  And with speculation comes questions.

There’s certainly no shortage of questions that Red Raider fans have as we look towards the 2020-21 season.  So let’s take a look at some of the most pressing and try to start formulating possible answers.

Home/Texas Tech Basketball