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Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders make huge jump in latest polls

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) /
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In the latest college basketball polls, the Texas Tech basketball team made a significant jump towards the top.

After a week that saw the Texas Tech basketball team secure two wins while a host of other top-15 teams suffered setbacks, Chris Beard’s team was one of the biggest risers in the latest college basketball polls.  The Red Raiders check in at No. 7 in the Associated Press poll and at No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.  That’s a jump of six and three spots respectively.

Last week, Tech added a home win over No. 9 Oklahoma and a road win at Kansas State to this season’s resume.  Those triumphs came at the right time for a major jump in the polls as seven teams ranked ahead of the Red Raiders last week fell at least once over the past seven days.

This is the highest the Red Raiders have been ranked in the 2020-21 season and the second time Tech has been in the top-10 this season.  The other instance came two weeks ago when they were ranked No. 10 in both polls.

In addition to being happy about our team’s rise, Tech fans are likely glad to see the fall of some other Big 12 teams this week.  For instance, after dropping two games, Texas fell seven spots in both polls to sit at No. 13.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma is down three spots to No. 12 after losing to Tech on Monday and beating Iowa State on Saturday.  Interestingly, Kansas has fallen out of the top 25 after dropping a road game at West Virginia on Saturday.

Speaking of the Mountaineers, they are headed back up the polls this week jumping to No. 14 in both.  Of course, they will be in Lubbock tomorrow night for a key Big 12 showdown.

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While Kansas may be out of the polls, Oklahoma State has entered to top 25 at No. 23 in the A.P. poll and No. 22 in the USA Today poll thanks to a double-OT win over the Longhorns on Saturday.  that means that the Big 12 still has over half of its teams in the rankings.

The top two in both polls remains Gonzaga and Baylor with both teams remaining undefeated last week.  After that, Michigan sits at No. 3 in each poll while Ohio State climbs to No. 4 in the A.P. poll and Villanova is at No. 4 in the USA Today poll.

But back to Tech.  By jumping six spots in the A.P. poll, the Red Raiders climbed as far as any team other than Missouri, which vaulted up eight spots this week.

We originally thought that Tech would have an opportunity to really boost its ranking this week given that the schedule originally had a pair of ranked teams, WVU and Baylor, slated to battle Beard’s team this week.  But now that the Red Raiders’ game at Baylor on Saturday has been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the Bears’ program, Tech will have only one chance to impress the pollsters this week.  Hopefully, Tech will handle the Mountaineers this time around and move even higher in next week’s polls.

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