Texas Tech Red Raiders news: Texas Tech baseball opens season, Lady Raiders' tumble continues, more

Happy Friday everyone. Let's take a look at some of the latest Texas Tech and NCAA news.

Texas Tech baseball begins the 2024 season in Arlington

Tonight, Tim Tadlock and the Texas Tech baseball team is set to open its 2024 season at the Shriner's Children's College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The No. 21 Red Raiders begin with a tough task against No. 8 Tennessee. First pitch is at 7 p.m.

Saturday, the Red Raiders will face Nebraska at 3 p.m. and Sunday they take on Oregon at 2:30 p.m. Though these games are early in the season, they will be important resume opportunities for Tadlock's bunch. If you want to watch these games, you'll have to pay to download FloBaseball.tv.

Texas Tech Lady Raiders fall to a bad team once again

Wednesday night, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders fell to Oklahoma State, another of the worst teams in the Big 12. The 60-50 home defeat was the fourth-straight loss for the program, a disappointing turn of events after the Lady Raiders hovered around .500 early in Big 12 play.

Things get no easier for Tech as they travel to Waco to face No. 21 Baylor on Sunday. Then, they will be at Texas on Wednesday night.

Texas Tech basketball head coach Grant McCasland gives positive update on Warren Washington

Thursday, Texas Tech basketball head coach Grant McCasland met with the media and was immediately asked about the status of big man Warren Washington who injured his foot in Monday's win over Kansas. McCasland had positive news to share.

McCasland said that Washington was moving well but that his status for Saturday's showdown at Iowa State was uncertain. He did say that Washington was making positive progress.

In the second half of Texas Tech's 79-50 win over Kansas on Monday, Washington came out of the game limping heavily after a play under the basket where he appeared to come down wrong on his foot. He tried to return to the game but was noticeably limited. Ultimately, he did not finish the game leaving many to fear the worst. However, it appears that Tech dodged a major bullet in this instance.

Texas Tech football hires new offensive line coach

The Texas Tech football program has hired Clay McGuire to coach its offensive line. This is the Crane, Texas native's third stint as an assistant coach for the Red Raiders. Most recently, he was the running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator under Kliff Kingsbury in 2018. Last season, McGuire was the offensive line coach for the Washington State Cougars, the team Tech will play on the road in week two of the upcoming season.

Texas Tech softball to play in San Marcos

The 3-2 Texas Tech softball team will play in San Marcos this weekend at the Texas State Tournament beginning today. They will play Sam Houston, Texas State, Tulsa, and Northern Colorado in the event.

ESPN buys rights for expanded College Football Playoff

Earlier this week, ESPN signed a six-year extension to be the exclusive home of the expanded College Football Playoff. The network will pay $608 million for the next two years of the playoff and a whopping $7.8 billion to carry the playoff games through the 2031 season.

This is a bit concerning to some given that ESPN will be the exclusive home of the S.E.C. football broadcasts starting next season. That makes some believe that ESPN will exert influence on the selection process to try to get as many S.E.C. teams into the playoff field as possible. Certainly, it is an interesting confluence of interests and one worth keeping an eye on.