Texas Tech Basketball: LSU, Maui Invitational highlights of 2022 non-conference schedule
Texas Tech Basketball doesn’t normally have the strongest non-conference schedules but did they improve on the competition this year?
Whether it’s Chris Beard when he was the head coach or now Mark Adams at the helm, Texas Tech Basketball has historically had fairly easy non-conference schedules. It’s usually 1-2 top-50 opponents, surrounded by a bunch of “buy games” from state of Texas D-I foes.
Of the 13 non-conference games the Red Raiders can schedule, eight of them are fully in their control. All of them are “buy games”, with none of them expected to be much of a challenge. Two of them are conference challenges, with the other three coming in the MTE Maui Invitational.
In the Invitational, they face the Creighton Bluejays, a preseason top-15 team in the first round, before taking on either Arkansas or Louisville in the second game. This will be important as the Razorbacks are also a preseason top-15 team, whereas the Cardinals are a projected bottom-third ACC program. So from a strength of schedule, perspective, Texas Tech beating Creighton will have plenty of consequences either way.
The Red Raiders take on Georgetown at home in the Big East/Big 12 Challenge. The Hoyas went winless in the Big East last season but have completely changed its entire roster, adding eight new transfers. It’s completely unknown how good they’ll but they can’t be any worse than they were a year ago.
The other matchup in the schedule is in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on the road at LSU. They’re another program that completely changed over after firing head coach Will Wade. Matt McMahon came over from LSU and added several transfers, mostly notably, KJ Williams from Murray State. The Tigers could be a top-6 team in the SEC next season or in the bottom-5 but because it’s a true road game, that automatically makes it a game the Red Raiders must take seriously.
Next. Top transfer for each Big 12 team. dark
Texas Tech Basketball will never have the toughest non-con schedule but as long as they continue to do well in Big 12 play, it won’t matter. The Maui Invitational is going to be a very important event for them to try to secure at least one big victory, which will likely determine how successful the pre-league schedule goes.