Texas Tech Red Raiders News: Basketball downs TCU, baseball cruises, CFP format is set

Let's take a look at everything going on in Raiderland and around the nation this Wednesday, February 21, 2024.

Texas Tech basketball takes down TCU in Lubbock

The Texas Tech basketball team picked up an emotional and hard-fought 82-81 win over TCU on Tuesday night in Lubbock. After the game, head coach Grant McCasland praised the home crowd as well as his players.

"To be part of this atmosphere and have this home-court advantage is remarkable," he said. "We don't win that game if it's not for the people in the building. I mean it. I love our team. I love our fight. I love our consistent grit."

Of course, the win was crucial in the Big 12 standings as Tech tries to work its way back into the top four of the league race to earn two byes in the conference tournament next month. It was also important for the Red Raiders to pick up a win without starting center Warren Washington in the mix as he continues to recover from a foot injury suffered against Kansas last week. Previously, Tech had been winless (0-2) when Washington was unable to play.

Texas Tech baseball hammers UTA

The night wasn't as dramatic for the Texas Tech baseball team. Playing again in Arlington, Texas at Globe Life Field, the Red Raiders hammered UT-Arlington 13-1.

Though the offensive output might grab most of the attention, the start by true freshman hurler Brady Trombello was likely the biggest development of the evening. The native of Washington went four full innings allowing only four hits and striking out four hitters while walking none in his Red Raider debut.

"I'm really proud of Brady and it was fun to watch him pitch," head coach Tim Tadlock said. "He executed pitches on both sides of the plate and threw three different pitches for strikes and it was a lot of fun to watch him."

Texas Tech will play one final game in Arlington today at noon against No. 7 Oregon State. The game isn't going to be broadcast on television so fans will have to pull up the radio call to follow along.

Life remains tough for the Lady Raiders

The Texas Tech Lady Raiders will return to the court tonight looking to snap an ugly 5-game losing streak. However, to do that, they will have to find a way to take down No. 5 Texas in Austin. The Lady Longhorns have won six games in a row and are peaking as March draws near making this task all the more difficult for Tech.

Jones Stadium nearing the return of the Double T scoreboard

The most iconic feature of Jones AT&T Stadium is the Double T scoreboard at the south end of the stadium. However, it was missing this past season as the old scoreboard had to be removed as part of the massive renovation project taking place on that end of the stadium.

Tuesday, the Texas Tech football program sent out pictures on X showing that the support beams for the new Double T scoreboard were being put into place. What's more, the new scoreboard will be even larger than the old one, something that will excite many fans who were fearful that the iconic structure would not be included in the revamped south end zone structure when plans were initially discussed.

NCAA votes on CFP formate

Perhaps the biggest NCAA news from this week is the approval of a 5 + 7 format for the new 12-team college football playoff. That structure was approved on Tuesday thanks to a vote by the College Football Playoff Board of Managers.

The new format will give an automatic bid to the playoffs to the five highest-ranked conference champions and at-large bids to the next seven highest-ranked teams as determined by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.

This news means that the Big 12 will have a seat at the table for now but there is no guarantee that the conference will get multiple teams into the playoff. Therefore, winning the league crown has become even more important than ever. Unfortunately, that's something Texas Tech hasn't done in the Big 12's existence, a run that dates back to 1996.

NCAA President not in favor of further transfer restrictions

Finally, NCAA President, Charlie Baker, said Tuesday that he is not in favor of more restrictions from the NCAA or federal authorities pertaining to players' ability to transfer between schools. In recent weeks, several coaches have bemoaned the difficulties of competing in the new player movement landscape but Baker seems unmoved by their complaints.

"I've had conversations with a bunch of coaches who didn't ... walk out on their contracts," Baker said to ESPN. "One of the things I hear from kids when I talk to them about this issue is, 'Coaches walk out on their contracts. What about us?'

"Do they transfer more than they did ten years ago? Yes. Do they transfer more than their peers who aren't student-athletes? No," Baker said. "... They actually transfer less than students who aren't student-athletes do, and kids just transfer more because they have more information, more data, and they're more impatient about a lot of things."