March Madness: Ranking the remaining teams of the East Region

2. Texas Tech Red Raiders (3 seed)

Strength: Elite defense

One team that won’t get blown out for sure in this is Texas Tech, who plays one of the more physical styles of defenses in the country. They’re led by Keenan Evan‘s whose 22.5 ppg average and clutch shotmaking has allowed the Red Raiders to get to this point.

A couple of freshmen in Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver have come up huge in their first taste of postseason play, and have provided just enough offense to complement their top five defense.

Weakness: Scoring outside of Evans

There was a stretch at the end of the regular season where after Evans was hobbled with a toe injury, Texas Tech lost four straight games, unable to score enough points without their star point guard. This is a team filled with secondary offensive weapons, who aren’t able to score without a facilitator in Evans.

Against West Virginia and Purdue, the Red Raiders should have enough offense to win. Villanova is another question, with Chris Bear’s defense going to need to play at an elite level to get the win. Or West Virginia can do their dirty work for them, setting up the fourth battle between them this season.