There’s some new shenanigans going on in the Big 12 and these shenanigans are impacting one of Texas Tech’s beloved traditions. 15 members of the Big 12 voted in favor of banning things from being thrown on the field.
Which, you know, safety and stuff. That makes some sense.
But along with safety and stuff some of the impacts to all of this. And that includes potentially impacting the way Texas Tech fans can chuck tortillas into the air and onto the field around the opening kickoff. That tradition now comes with a bit of a penalty now.
Still, Kirby Hocutt, Texas Tech’s athletics director, is fine with that penalty. Texas Tech, after all, was the one member of the Big 12 that voted against this policy.
The Big 12 voted 15-1 to issue 15-yard penalties to teams after a third instance of throwing items on the field.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 14, 2025
Texas Tech was the one that voted against—and their athletic director says their tradition of throwing tortillas will not stop. pic.twitter.com/rLU14pl0lq
And of course, Texas Tech fans are a huge fan of Hocutt for standing up for this tradition.
Red Raider fans show support for Kirby Hocutt as Texas Tech’s AD takes a shot at Big 12’s new policy
With this whole situation happening and impacting chucking tortillas onto the field, here’s how Texas Tech fans are reacting:
Total jealousy of Tech’s fan base, administrative support, NIL game and recent spending sprees. 15 little whiners and one program bettering itself.
— Robert Powell 🌵🏴☠️ (@RPTexan) August 14, 2025
— rt (@Rbrt555) August 14, 2025
Some folks are justifiably mad about the whole deal. And I get it. This situation isn’t great. It’s impacting a beloved tradition that Texas Tech fans and students really enjoy. There’s no doubt that folks are going to be upset here.
😂 we gonna be starting from the 1 after every kickoff
— 👆🌵♥️ Dustin 🖤🌵👆 (@ds8503) August 15, 2025
Other fans are enjoying laughing at the whole deal. And that seems like a fairly healthy way to process all of the emotions that come with this.
— Mark Deska Ŧ🌮🌵💍💍 (@MDeskaTTU) August 14, 2025
— Brandon🌵🌵 (@B_Cox09) August 14, 2025
— Monte Pierce Ŧ 🌵 (@piermj) August 14, 2025
The memes are perfect. Long live the memes. Give me more memes.
Have the cheerleaders hold up big nets to catch the tortillas, make it a game withing the game.
— MajorElint (@ElintMajor) August 15, 2025
Well, that sounds fun. More in game entertainment. I can get on board with that!
Time to leave the big 12
— AH (@Ali_J_Hamdan) August 15, 2025
And now we’ve got folks talking about Texas Tech leaving the Big 12? I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised by this one. It feels like a team from Texas leaves the Big 12 every few years.
Hopefully it’ll all work itself out without the wide ranging impacts and downstream effects that come with college football conference realignment. Plus, the Big 12 is a very winnable conference and the Red Raiders are recruiting well. Maybe let’s not just jump to blowing that whole thing up just yet? Maybe we see how this one works out?