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Texas Tech basketball: Thoughts on Red Raiders 2023-24 Big 12 opponents reveal

By Matthew Conner

Texas Tech's head men's basketball coach Grant McCasland attends the Matadors' playoff game against San Antonio Corinthians, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, at Lubbock-Cooper High School in Woodrow.
Texas Tech's head men's basketball coach Grant McCasland attends the Matadors' playoff game against San Antonio Corinthians, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, at Lubbock-Cooper High School in Woodrow. /
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Mar 10, 2023; Fort Worth, TX, USA; UCF Knights forward Taylor Hendricks (25) in action during the game between the UCF Knights and the Memphis Tigers at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2023; Fort Worth, TX, USA; UCF Knights forward Taylor Hendricks (25) in action during the game between the UCF Knights and the Memphis Tigers at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

Welcoming the other newcomers

As for the other three newcomers to the conference, all three will have to come to the 806 and experience the insanity of conference play at United Supermarkets Arena for the first time.

UCF and Tech will play a home-and-home set this season.  The Knights went 18-15 last season and made it to the second round of the NIT beating Florida and losing to Oregon.  However, they were just 8-10 in Conference U.S.A. play in 2022-23.

Last season, they did beat Florida State, Oklahoma State, and Ole Miss in non-conference action.  In fact, they began their campaign 9-3 prior to conference play.  However, they fell off when league play began as they endured a five-game losing streak at one point.

As for BYU, they were 19-15 this past season but they failed to qualify for a postseason tournament.  That included a 7-9 mark in West Coast Conference games.

Cincinnati has the best pedigree of these three teams but the Bearcats were just able to reach the third round of the NIT this spring.  While they did put up a nice 23-13 record, they did not manage to beat a ranked team all season which was likely a reason for missing out on the Big Dance.

Tech and the Bearcats have met only once, a 78-55 Cincy win in 1961.  Meanwhile, Tech has not played BYU since 1995, an 81-71 Red Raider victory that marks the only time those Cougars have lost to Tech in four all-time meetings.  As for UCF, they have never tangled with the Red Raiders on the hardwood.

Those new series will be tough for Tech fans to wrap our heads around for a few years with virtually no history or angst between the schools.  Still, they will be as important moving forward as the Texas and OU series are now (at least as it pertains to the standings) and each series will have an edition take place in West Texas this fall as the new reality of Big 12 sports hits home for Texas Tech basketball fans.

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