NCAA Basketball: Tennessee, Baylor, Illinois rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
22. Texas Tech (18-7)
This season has been an intriguing display for the Red Raiders. It started off as a great first year for Grant McCasland as Texas Tech opened 14-2, including some nice performances. They’ve struggled at times against a strong Big 12, albeit with some brilliant games here and there. They’re back in the rankings this week thanks to their most brilliant performance coming back on Monday.
On that night they drilled Kansas, beating the Jayhawks 79-50 in College Station for their premier win of the season. Darrion Williams played outstanding with 30 points and 11 rebounds while the defense had its best effort of the year. It was not a perfect week for the Red Raiders, who faced a big challenge on Saturday, losing 82-74 at Iowa State. Joe Toussaint had 16 points and Williams had another double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds), though a lot of great teams have lost in Ames already this season.
The Red Raiders have won just two of their last six games, but that Kansas performance was evidence that they belong in this tough Big 12. We’ve seen Texas Tech’s seeding likely drop a few lines in recent weeks, though the bottom line is that the Red Raiders are a good team that can make noise in this league. They’ll try to avenge a previous loss to TCU this week before a road trip to UCF, with stockpiling wins the current goal.