Gerry Glasco and the Texas Tech Red Raiders are off to an interesting start on the season. At 16-1, it’s abundantly clear that there’s a lot of potential for Texas Tech to go on a tear and have a really remarkable season.
Kaitlyn Terry and NiJaree Canady have been incredible in leading the Red Raiders through the brutal 17 straight road games that Texas Tech has had to get the season started and now they’re returning home to Lubbock to play through the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic.
And with that strong, promising start despite all of Texas Tech’s travels, the Red Raiders are holding on to the No. 2 spot in the college softball rankings from ESPN and USA Softball. And it’s interesting, because Texas Tech is currently sandwiched between two teams that received No. 1 votes while Texas Tech didn’t get a single one.
Texas Tech still owns the No. 2 spot in ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings in Week 3
Here’s what the top 25 looks like, according to the poll:
- No. 1 - Tennessee Lady Vols
- No. 2 - Texas Tech Red Raiders
- No. 3 - Texas Longhorns
- No. 4 - Nebraska Cornhuskers
- No. 5 - Oklahoma Sooners
- No. 6 - Florida Gators
- No. 7 - Alabama Crimson Tide
- No. 8 - Arkansas Razorbacks
- No. 9 - UCLA Bruins
- No. 10 - Florida State Seminoles
- No. 11 - Georgia Bulldogs
- No. 12 - Virginia Tech Hokies
- No. 13 - Stanford Cardinal
- No. 14 - Arizona Wildcats
- No. 15 - Texas A&M Aggies
- No. 16 - Oklahoma State Cowgirls
- No. 17 - LSU Tigers
- No. 17 - Oregon Ducks
- No. 19 - Mississippi State Bulldogs
- No. 20 - Duke Blue Devils
- No. 21 - Virginia Cavaliers
- No. 22 - South Carolina Gamecocks
- No. 23 - Arizona State Sun Devils
- No. 24 - Washington Huskies
- No. 25 - Grand Canyon Antelopes
During this weekend, the Red Raiders will get the opportunity to play four different foes in six different games all in front of the home crowd in Lubbock, which will be a welcomed break from Texas Tech traveling all over the country to play games.
It seems unlikely that any of the six matchups this weekend will be enough to get the Red Raiders to the top of the rankings, but at least they’ll have the chance to play at home. That matters.