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Texas Tech basketball: Keys for success in the Big 12 tournament

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - DECEMBER 06: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half of the college basketball game against the Grambling State Tigers at United Supermarkets Arena on December 06, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - DECEMBER 06: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half of the college basketball game against the Grambling State Tigers at United Supermarkets Arena on December 06, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – APRIL 08: The Texas Tech Red Raiders mascot poses for a photo with fans prior to the 2019 NCAA men’s Final Four National Championship game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – APRIL 08: The Texas Tech Red Raiders mascot poses for a photo with fans prior to the 2019 NCAA men’s Final Four National Championship game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

If the Texas Tech basketball team is going to have a successful run in this week’s Big 12 Tournament, the following aspects of the game will be key.

This week, the Big 12 Tournament makes its return after last year’s cancellation.  And it’s only fitting that Tech will open the event by facing Texas, the team which the Red Raiders were set to face in the second round of the 2020 tournament when both teams were pulled off the court during warmups as the event was scrapped.

We won’t get into the debate about whether or not the conference tournaments should be held this year being as COVID-19 concerns still remain part of our world.  But it is fair to wonder just how much the Red Raiders can help their NCAA Tournament seeding this week.

Last year, many people believed that the game between Tech and the Horns in Kansas City was essentially a play-in game for the NCAA Tournament.  This year, that’s not the case as both are guaranteed to be part of the 68-team field.

But Tech could use some extra bullet points on its resume to help boost its eventual seeding.  And the good news is that this tournament is going to provide plenty of opportunities for that.

A win over No. 13 Texas would then lead to a likely showdown with No. 11 Kansas.  Should Tech manage to win that game, they would appear in the title game against likely either No. 2 Baylor or No. 10 West Virginia.  In other words, Tech could pick up three more quadrant-one wins this week and that would do wonders for the Red Raiders’ seeding come Sunday when the bracket is released.

But short of a magical run through the field in Kansas City, it’s worth wondering how much Tech can improve its overall NCAA Tournament resume with just a single win over Texas or even with wins over UT and KU.  And the problem is that there simply appear to be too many good teams ahead of Tech in the pecking order for Big Dance seedings.

Tech is No. 17 in the current NCAA Net Rankings, a metric that weighs heavily into the selection committee’s seedings.  Were the Red Raiders to be the No. 17 overall seed in the tournament, that would lead to a No. 5 seed and that’s where most people are projecting Tech to land.

Sure, beating Texas again gives Tech quite the case for a No. 4 seed but the difference between a No. 4 and a No. 5 seed is marginal as in either scenario, you are set up to face the region’s No. 1 seed in the Sweet 16.  But being a No. 3 seed means you wouldn’t see the No. 1 see in that region until the Elite 8.  In fact, it could be argued that it would be better to be a No. 6 seed for the same reason as that puts you on the opposite side of the bracket from the region’s top seed.

Perhaps if Tech can put together an improbable three-game stretch and claim the conference tournament this week, a No. 3 seed could be achievable, but even with a Big 12 tournament title, that seems to be a stretch.  Likely, the best Tech can hope for is a No. 4 seeding.

Still, Chris Beard has said in years prior that if they are handing out trophies, he intends on trying to claim them so expect his team to put forth every effort in an attempt to earn the automatic bid to the Big Dance.  And for that to happen, the following needs to occur.

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