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Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders earn 6 seed, to face Utah State

By Matthew Conner

AMES, IA - JANUARY 9: Marcus Santos-Silva #14 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders and head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders react to a three point basket in the first half of play at Hilton Coliseum on January 9, 2021 in Ames, Iowa. The Texas Tech Red Raiders won 91-64 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - JANUARY 9: Marcus Santos-Silva #14 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders and head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders react to a three point basket in the first half of play at Hilton Coliseum on January 9, 2021 in Ames, Iowa. The Texas Tech Red Raiders won 91-64 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images) /
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Sunday, we learned that the Texas Tech basketball team will be a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament where they will face Utah State in the first round.

In December of 2018, Texas Tech and Utah State were forever linked together when the Red Raiders hired Matt Wells away from the Aggies to be head football coach.  Now, those two universities will again cross paths but this time on the hardwood as the Texas Tech basketball team is set to face USU in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Slotted as a No. 6 seed in the South Region, Tech has now qualified for three-straight NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history.  But the draw isn’t an easy one.

The No. 11 seed Aggies come into the Big Dance at 20-8 on the year and they feature one of the nation’s most dominant centers.  7-foot, 245-pound Neemias Queta averages 15.1 points, 10 rebounds, and a stunning 3.2 blocks per game.  He could very well be the best center the Red Raiders will have seen all season.

Should Tech take down the Aggies, a likely matchup with No. 3 seed Arkansas would await in the second round.  The Hogs went 22-6 this season and finished second in the SEC regular-season race.  Prior to falling to LSU in the SEC semifinals on Saturday, Arkansas had won nine consecutive games.

Also in Tech’s half of the south region is Ohio State, the No. 2 seed.  If form were to hold (outside of Tech beating Arkansas), the Buckeyes would be Tech’s foe in the Sweet 16.

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Of course, Red Raider fans may not have been too happy to see that Baylor is the No. 1 seed in the South region.  That’s because Tech would likely have to go through the Bears to return to the Final Four and that’s something Chris Beard’s team has not appeared capable of doing this season.

But don’t sleep on the second-round matchup that Baylor will have.  Either No. 8 seed North Carolina or No. 9 seed Wisconsin will be a tough test for Scott Drew’s team as neither will be intimidated by facing the Big 12 regular-season champs.

In all, seven Big 12 teams made the field of 68 teams with all being a No. 8 seed or higher.  The only other conference that had more teams qualify is the Big 10 with an impressive nine teams in the  Big Dance.

But as for the Red Raiders, there’s some great somewhat-recent history when playing as a No. 6 seed.  In the 2005 tournament, Tech reached the Sweet 16 as a No. 6 seed after beating UCLA in the first round and upsetting Gonzaga in the second round.

Of course, Tech’s aspirations are much higher than just reaching the second weekend of the tournament now that this program has played in the National Title game.  Now, the opportunity to get back to the game’s grandest stage lies before Chris Beard’s team but the first step will not be an easy one.

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