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Texas Tech football: 5 reasons many are optimistic about 2021

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - DECEMBER 05: Krishon Merriweather #1, Michael Nelson #39, Colin Schooler #17 and Christian LaValle #45 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field before the college football game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Jones AT&T Stadium on December 05, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - DECEMBER 05: Krishon Merriweather #1, Michael Nelson #39, Colin Schooler #17 and Christian LaValle #45 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field before the college football game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Jones AT&T Stadium on December 05, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Oct 19, 2019; Lubbock, TX, USA; The Texas Tech Red Raiders cheerleaders celebrate a touchdown against the Iowa State Cyclones in the second half at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 19, 2019; Lubbock, TX, USA; The Texas Tech Red Raiders cheerleaders celebrate a touchdown against the Iowa State Cyclones in the second half at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

The schedule

In the world of the Big 12, where each year brings a round-robin format, there isn’t much variance in schedule difficulty.  Still, this season’s schedule sets up for Tech to have at least a winning regular season.

The main reason is that it opens with three very winnable games.  By facing Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Florida International in the non-conference portion of this season, Tech will not face a Power 5 opponent outside of the Big 12 for the first time since 2013 (not counting 2020 that is).  That means that a fourth of the schedule will be games that Tech should absolutely expect to win.

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But the Big 12 schedule also sets up well for Tech this year.  That’s because many of the Red Raiders’ biggest toss-up games will take place in Lubbock.

Facing Kansas State and TCU at Jones Stadium hasn’t yielded great results in recent years but still, you would rather play those two toss-up games in your own building rather than on the road.  Additionally, the Oklahoma State game will be one that could go either way and the last time Tech hosted the Cowboys, the home team led from start to finish in a 45-35 win.

Thus, if Tech can figure out how to get those three games in the win column and win the three non-conference games on the slate, that would be enough to get Wells’ team to a bowl game.  And if Tech can win road games at Baylor, West Virginia, or Kansas, the year could turn into an even greater success.

Of course, winning at home hasn’t been easy for this program in recent years.  Thus, we can’t take for granted any game at The Jones this season.  But the offseason is the time for optimism and if all of the factors we have discussed today pan out the way we hope they do, perhaps Lubbock will once again become a place where no team wants to play.

Related Story. The top Red Raiders of the Big 12 era. light

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