The good and the bad from Texas Tech basketball Big 12 home/away reveal

With the days of the glorious double round-robin scheduling format now behind us in the new Big 12, an annual rite of passage is going to be the revelation each summer of the home and away conference opponents for each conference team. Thursday was that day for the 2024-25 schedule as the league dropped a list of where each team will meet its conference foes.

We still don't have an official schedule, though. The league has only released the sites of each of the Big 12 matchups, not the dates.

Remember, also, that this year the conference is going to a 20-game schedule for each member. That's up from the standard 18-game conference slate that teams have navigated for years.

This past season gave us a taste of life in the new Big 12 with the implementation of an unbalanced schedule. Fortunately, Texas Tech was able to survive that challenge going 11-7 in Big 12 regular-season play to finish tied with Baylor for third in the conference race.

Here's hoping that the program can at least sustain that level of success and hopefully improve upon it this coming season. However, two extra conference games will mean two fewer games against low-major non-conference opponents making the schedule all the more difficult to survive for each team in the Big 12. With that said, let's look at the positives and negatives of Texas Tech's opponent reveal.

Positive: Texas Tech won't have to play in Waco, Morgantown, or Ames

We start out on a positive note by appreciating the fact that Tech won't have to travel to Baylor, West Virginia, or Iowa State. Those are three of the more daunting trips teams in the conference have to make so it's nice to miss out on those road environments.

Tech is just 1-7 in Waco since winning there in 2016. The lone win in that span was a big one though as the Red Raiders knocked off No. 1 Baylor 65-62 in 2022.

As for playing in Ames, the Red Raiders have dropped their last three games at Hilton Coliseum. What's more, playing there in 2024-25 will be daunting given that ISU will likely open the season as a top-10 team.

Similarly, Tech is just 3-8 all-time in Morgantown. However, all three of those wins have come since 2019 with Tech prevailing in each of its last two trips to Appalachia.

Negative: Tech has to play Arizona and Houston twice

Sometimes, championships come down to who you play vs. who other teams play. If Texas Tech wants to win the Big 12 this season, Grant McCasland's team is going to have to earn it.

There are five teams that Tech will play twice. Among them are presumed conference powers Houston and Arizona along with Arizona State, Oklahoma State, and TCU.

It isn't ideal to have to play Houston and Arizona for four total games next year. That's 1/5 of your conference schedule.

Both teams are expected to be excellent this season. In fact, in the way-too-early ESPN Power Rankings, Houston sits at No. 4, and Arizona checks in at No. 9.

Both teams will be Final Four contenders next year. That's why getting each twice is less than ideal for the Red Raiders.

Positive: Texas Tech plays Iowa State, Kansas, and Baylor only once each

On the other side of the equation, it is nice to only see Iowa State, Kansas, and Baylor once this year. Those are three of the top-10 teams in the ESPN early Power Rankings with Kansas checking in at No. 1.

Unfortunately, Tech does have to travel to Lawrence to face the Jayhawks this year. That's never an easy task as the Red Raiders are just 1-22 all-time at Allen Fieldhouse.

Baylor and Iowa State coming to Lubbock will still present problems. However, the Bears have dropped two of their last three games in Lubbock despite being ranked 11th or better for each game. As for the Cyclones, they haven't won in Lubbock since 2019.

Negative: The road-only opponents for Texas Tech are brutal

We know that every team is going to have a daunting set of road games in the Big 12. That's just the reality of life in the deepest and best conference in America.

However, when you look at the teams that Tech will have to face on the road without getting a return game in Lubbock, you will find four of the toughest venues to visit in the country.

Tech's five away-only opponents are Kansas, Kansas State, Cincinnati, BYU, and Utah. Aside from the Utes (who went 22-15 overall but just 9-11 in PAC-12 play last season), the other teams on this list have massive home advantages.

Everyone knows about Kansas' homecourt edge. But don't overlook how tough it is to play at Kansas State. The Red Raiders are just 3-7 in their last 10 trips to the "Octagon of Doom".

Meanwhile, Cincinnati is a sleeper conference contender this year. Returning almost every key piece from a team that narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament in 2024, they are No. 19 in the early ESPN rankings after adding a strong recruiting and transfer class to an already tough roster.

Then there is BYU. Playing in one of the biggest and loudest arenas in the nation, they have perhaps the most underrated homecourt edge in the game.

Of course, we don't have to worry about any of these games for a few months. However, the release of the home and away opponents is a reminder of how brutal the Big 12 is going to be yet again in 2024-25. Fortunately, McCasland has assembled quite a talented roster himself and it should be fascinating to see how the Red Raiders stack up in the nation's most rugged conference.