Texas Tech basketball might play Texas in 2024-25 after all

After all the hand-wringing over the end of the Texas Tech basketball series against Texas, it now appears that we will potentially get another edition of that rivalry next season. That's all thanks to a non-conference tournament.

Wednesday, the Texas Tech basketball program announced that it will be participating in the 2024 Legends Classic presented by Old Trapper. That event will take place this November 21-22 in Brooklyn, New York.

This will be the third time Tech has played in this event having previously done so in 2008 and 2013. Of course, what makes this event so intriguing for Texas Tech fans is that Texas will also be participating along with Syracuse and St. Joseph's.

We don't yet know the matchups for the event so there is a chance that Tech and Texas may not meet in Brooklyn. However, if those putting on the Legends Classic were smart, they would make that happen in the opening round.

This season, the Red Raiders and Longhorns split their two meetings in the regular season with each winning on the other team's court. Tech took down Texas 78-67 in the Big 12 opener and then Texas returned the favor with an 81-69 victory in Lubbock last month.

Overall, the Red Raiders trail in the all-time series 89-66. Texas also leads in neutral-site wins over Tech 10-4.

What makes the possibility of playing Texas next season so intriguing is that the Red Raiders could play both the Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies in the non-conference portion of the schedule. We already know that the Red Raiders will host A&M the Friday after Thanksgiving in Lubbock and now, a matchup with Texas could be in the works in Brooklyn.

Those games are important for generating fan interest. However, they are also important because Tech desperately needs to improve its non-conference strength of schedule after having just the No. 304 out-of-conference strength of schedule in the nation this season.

Of course, playing Syracuse or St. Joseph's likely won't help in that regard unless one of those programs improves dramatically this offseason. However, Texas should be stout again next year as they debut in the S.E.C.

This may be how Texas Tech fans get to see Tech tangle with Texas from here on out. The neutral-site contests might be how this series continues as there appears to be little interest from the people in Austin in regard to playing in Lubbock for the forseeable future.

While playing the series away from campus is not as special as playing in Lubbock or Austin, at least there appears to be an avenue to keep it alive moving forward, even if it isn't on an annual basis. That's the best the Red Raiders can hope for when trying to continue to get a shot to take on the Horns.