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Texas Tech basketball: The most important games remaining on the schedule

By Matthew Conner

Feb 1, 2021; Lubbock, Texas, USA; An inflatable Texas Tech Red Raider outside the United Supermarkets Arena before the game against the Oklahoma Sooners. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 1, 2021; Lubbock, Texas, USA; An inflatable Texas Tech Red Raider outside the United Supermarkets Arena before the game against the Oklahoma Sooners. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 29, 2020; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard and Texas Longhorns head coach Shaka Smart meet before the game at United Supermarkets Arena. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 29, 2020; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard and Texas Longhorns head coach Shaka Smart meet before the game at United Supermarkets Arena. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 1: vs. Texas

Whether it is basketball, football, baseball, or team duck racing, beating the Longhorns in any endeavor carries more weight than almost anything else does in Raiderland.  Of course, Tech has already managed to do that once this year with the thrilling 79-77 win in Austin.

But Tech needs to sweep Texas by taking down the Horns in Lubbock on the final day of the regular season.  That’s because this is a rivalry that seems to be heating up a bit.

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For years, Texas has underachieved under Shaka Smart.  They’ve not won an NCAA Tournament game since his arrival in 2015 and only twice have they managed a 20-win season (though they may have gotten to that mark last season as they had 19 wins when the season was shut down).

But now, the Horns are a factor in the Big 12, and some believe, on the national scene. They sit at No. 6 in the nation (despite losing three of their last four games) and they are a sure-fire NCAA Tournament team.   In other words, they are now trying to challenge Tech’s spot in the hierarchy of the Big 12 and the state of Texas.

For the last three years of the Texas Tech basketball program’s rise to prominence, Beard and his squad have been able to claim to be the premier program in the state of Texas.  But now, both Texas and Baylor have risen up this year and are making that discussion convoluted.

Keeping a step ahead of the Longhorns has to be a priority for Tech and the way to do that is to sweep the best team that Shaka Smart has had in Austin.  That accomplishment would also give Tech a huge feather in its cap come Selection Sunday.  But most importantly, it would be a not-so-subtle reminder that Tech is still the superior program and that means quite a bit to the fan base.  Plus, it’s just so fun to take down the Longhorns, even in team duck racing.

More. The top 25 Red Raiders of the Big 12 era. light

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