Monday, the latest college basketball polls were released and the Texas Tech basketball team held strong in the top 10. Despite going 1-1 last week with a loss to TCU on Tuesday and a victory over West Virginia on Saturday, the Red Raiders fell just one spot to No. 10 in the Associated Press Poll. Meanwhile, they stayed put at No. 10 in the Coaches Poll.
This is the fifth week in a row that head coach Grant McCasland and his squad have been ranked. The first time this season that the team was ranked was on January 27 when Tech earned a No. 22 national ranking. Then, Tech rose to No. 13 the next week, moved up to No. 12 a week later, and reached No. 9 last week in the A.P. poll.
Interestingly, the top-10 in both polls is exactly the same this week. Auburn checks in at No. 1 with Duke, Florida, Houston, Tennessee, Alabama, St. John's, Michigan State, and Iowa State also ahead of the Red Raiders in order.
Other Big 12 teams in the poll include Arizona (No. 22 in the A.P. and No. 21 in the Coaches) and BYU (No. 25 in the A.P. poll). Meanwhile, Kansas fell out of both polls marking the end of a streak of 80 consecutive weeks in the A.P. poll. The last time the Jayhawks were not in the A.P. poll was in February of 2021. It has been quite the fall for the team that began the season ranked No. 1 in America.
Checking in at No. 🔟 pic.twitter.com/3SoiI0iwdn
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) February 24, 2025
As for the Red Raiders, they could really jump in the rankings with a pair of wins this week. Tech faces No. 4 Houston in Lubbock tonight and Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday. Should the Red Raiders win both of those tough games, they will not only rise in the rankings but they would also improve their NCAA Tournament seeding tremendously.
Considering that Tech was picked to finish seventh in the conference in the preseason, it is quite impressive to see McCasland's squad in the top ten. However, just getting to this point is not all that the team hopes to accomplish.
A deep run in March (and hopefully into April) is what everyone in Raiderland is dreaming of. Of course, accomplishing that would be greatly aided by picking up a pair of wins that would move the national needle this week.