Mac McClung looks to lead Texas Tech Basketball over Utah State Aggies

Texas Tech Basketball has struggled down the stretch this season losing five of their last eight games played leading up to the NCAA Tournament. The Red Raiders play in the Big 12 Conference which has been exceptionally competitive this year.

In fact, those five losses I just mentioned came to five in-conference teams: Baylor, Kansas, Texas, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State. All five of those teams are top 4 seeds in their respective regions in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

This team has shown flashes of great play throughout the year and even reached a Top 10 National ranking as recently as late January. That is to say, this team absolutely has the potential to win a few games in the NCAA Tournament, especially due to the fact they played many games this season against Big 12 teams. Behind the Big 10 Conference, the Big 12 was arguably the second-best in college basketball this season.

Proceed with caution though in advancing Texas Tech far in any bracket you may fill out. Usually, teams that go far, specifically those that win the National Championship, have caught fire at just the right time, sweeping end-of-season Conference tournaments or ending the regular season on a long winning streak.

Since this is not the case for the Red Raiders, they will have to rely mostly on the raw talent of individual players to win games. This should be relatively easy for the team’s first matchup on Friday against the Utah State Aggies. Let’s look at the 3 keys to Texas Tech winning and advancing to the Round of 32.