The Texas Tech Red Raiders enter their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2022 seeking a return to the Final Four.
For the 20th time in 99 years of Texas Tech basketball, the Red Raiders are in the NCAA Tournament. That's no small feat given that this is only year one of the Grant McCasland era.
Looking back at program history, few Red Raider head coaches have been able to get Tech into the Big Dance in year one. In fact, only four men have managed that accomplishment.
The first was Gene Gibson back in 1961-62. That year, Tech won the Southwest Conference to get into the tournament but suffered a 67-60 to Colorado in the semifinals of the Midwest Region.
The next first-year head coach to get the Red Raiders into the NCAA Tournament was Bob Knight in 2001-02. That run was also short-lived with a 76-68 first-round loss to Southern Illinois.
Mark Adams also took Tech to the Big Dance in his first year as head coach, 2021-22. That season, he had a nice run to the Sweet 16 by beating Montana State and Notre Dame before falling to Duke 78-73.
Now, Grant McCasland has joined that group. Most predicted a rougher transition year for the former North Texas head coach who had to take over a team that lost five of its top six scorers from the previous season.
Of course, the hope is that he has a run similar to Adams' 2022 run. However, as we look at the all-time round-by-round record for the program, we will see that it has been rather rare for the Red Raiders to put together an extended run in March.
Before Tournament Expansion to 64 teams | Years in the Tournament |
|---|---|
Record: 2-6 | 1954, 1956, 1961, 1962, 1973, 1976, |
The NCAA Tournament as we know it began in 1985 when the field was expanded to 64 teams. Prior to that, Tech made the field six times but won only twice.
In 1954, the Red Raiders lost their first game to Santa Clara 73-64. Two years later, they would fall in the opening round to SMU, 68-67.
1961 saw the Red Raiders fall to Cincinnati in their first game of the NCAA Tournament, 78-55. The next season, Tech would claim its first win in the tournament, a 68-66 win over Air Force. However, in the next game, the Red Raiders fell to Colorado 67-60.
In 1973, it was another short run for Tech thanks to a 78-70 loss to South Carolina in the first game of the tournament. 1976 was a year in which Tech won its first game, 69-56 over Syracuse. However, one game later, the Red Raiders lost to Missouri 86-75.