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Texas Tech football: Pros of a Big-12-only schedule

By Matthew Conner

ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 07, 2019 - Detail view of Big 12 logo as the Baylor Bears band plays on the field before Baylor plays the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Football Championship at AT&T Stadium on December 7, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 07, 2019 - Detail view of Big 12 logo as the Baylor Bears band plays on the field before Baylor plays the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Football Championship at AT&T Stadium on December 7, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /
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An end zone pylon bearing the logos of the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Big 12 Conference is pitcured during the second half of the college football game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on October 05, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
An end zone pylon bearing the logos of the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Big 12 Conference is pitcured during the second half of the college football game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on October 05, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Though we all want a full Texas Tech football season, there could be some positives to playing only BIg 12 games in 2020.

Yesterday, we took a look at some of the cons of paying a Big 12-only schedule for the Texas Tech football team.  However, there may also be some advantages to such a schedule should that come to fruition this fall.

When you look back at the history of Texas Tech football, it is rare to find seasons of nine games or less.  In fact, the last time that Tech played as few as nine games in a season was 1933 when Pete Cawthon’s team went 8-1.

For the first decade of the program’s existence, Tech played a nine-game season seven times.  But since then, Red Raider fans have been treated to more football than that on an annual basis.

What’s more, the last time we saw a Texas Tech football season impacted by the loss of a scheduled game was in 2001.  That year, Tech was supposed to play at UTEP on the weekend following the September 11th terror attacks but that game was canceled as were all of the games across the NCAA.  Interestingly, if the non-conference portion of this year’s schedule is lost, Tech will again see a game at UTEP be canceled as the Red Raiders are currently set to open the year in El Paso.

For now, the Big 12 is intentionally delaying any decision on this fall in the hope that a full slate of games can be played.  In fact, yesterday, the Dallas Morning News reported that a decision from the conference isn’t going to come down until late July.

"“We’ve been advised to go slow and constantly re-evaluate what we’re doing and move ahead as long as scientists and medical personnel are telling us it’s safe to do,” Bowlsby said on Thursday."

LIkewise, ACC commissioner John Swafford seems to be holding off on an official decision.

"“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and administrators remains the ACC’s top priority,” he said in a statement released on Friday.  “As we continue to work on the best possible path forward for the return of competition, we will do so in a way that appropriately coincides with our universities’ academic missions. Over the last few months, our conference has prepared numerous scenarios related to the fall athletics season. The league membership and our medical advisory group will make every effort to be as prepared as possible during these unprecedented times, and we anticipate a decision by our Board of Directors in late July.”"

But regardless of the resolve of Bowlsby and Swafford, there appears to be an increased likelihood of the Power 5 schools playing only a conference schedule.  After all, the Big 10 and PAC 12 have already announced their intentions to do just that and as we learned in March with the canceling of virtually every conference basketball tournament when one league makes such a move, the others typically follow suit.

Should that happen, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.  After all, some football is better than no football.  So let’s drink from the glass that is half-full and look at the positives that we could take away from a Texas Tech football season comprised of only Big 12 opponents.

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