A quick and dirty breakdown of the non-conference schedule that was released today:

Friday, Nov. 11 – Houston Baptist – Lubbock

HBU finished 17-17 last season, lost in the first round of the CBI tournament. Lost during the season to TCU 90-63.
Opinion – Should be a piece of cake for Tech.

Tuesday, Nov. 15 – North Texas – Lubbock

UNT finished 12-20 last season.
Opinion – Another cake game that should be a win.

Saturday, Nov. 19 – Eastern Kentucky – Lubbock

EKU finished 15-16 last season. Lost to West Virginia 84-59.
Opinion – Once again an easy team to beat.

Tuesday, Nov. 22 – Auburn – Cancun, Mexico

AU finished 11-20 last season. Lost to Oklahoma State 74-63.
Opinion – Our first test to see what our team is made of. Still extremely winnable.

Wednesday, Nov. 23 – Utah State or Purdue – Cancun, Mexico

Purdue finished 26-9 and lost to Chris Beard (UALR) in first round of the NCAA tournament. They will be out for blood.
Utah State finished 16-15.
Opinion – If we get Purdue, watch out… will be a really difficult game to win. Utah State should be an easy one.

Friday, Nov. 25 – Idaho State – Lubbock

ISU finished 16-15 last season.
Opinion – Should be a cakewalk.

Wednesday, Nov. 30 – Incarnate Word – Lubbock

IW finished 17-12 last season. Lost to Oklahoma 96-63.
Opinion – We should cream these guys.

Saturday, Dec. 3 – Rice – Lubbock

RU finished 12-20 last season.
Opinion – Feed ’em some CAKE!!!

Wednesday, Dec. 14 – Nicholls State – Lubbock

NSU finished 11-23 last season.
Opinion – Another piece of cake.

Saturday, Dec. 17 – Richmond – Richmond, Va.

UR finished 16-16 last season. Lost to West Virginia 67-59.
Opinion – Our first true road test will be against a decent team on their turf. This could be a challenging game for Tech.

Wednesday, Dec. 21 – Longwood – Lubbock

LU finished 10-23 last season. Lost to Oklahoma State 73-55.
Opinion – Much needed after the Richmond battle, they should be duck soup.

Saturday, Jan. 28 – LSU – Lubbock

LSU finished 19-14 last season, with Ben Simmons. They lost to Oklahoma 77-75.
Opinion – Simmons is gone, but they still have some talent. It could be a good game.

Obviously this is an extremely hot take opinion, the non-conference schedule just came out a few hours ago. But, needless to say I am not overly impressed with the level of talent we will be playing. It might be good for our Red Raiders to gain some chemistry against some of the lesser talented teams. The only thing that worries me is if we struggle in these games, how will we stack up against our Big 12 foes? I’m going to keep thinking that we will come out with our guns blazing, and get a lot of lopsided victories this upcoming season in the non-conference games. We must stomp most of these opponents to get into the Big Dance. Wreck ’em Tech!!!