Softball

Texas Tech announced that Texas Tech has hired Texas A&M assistant coach, Craig Snyder. Snyder was at TAMU for a few years, and also at Florida State for a long stint, from 2011 through 2019.

“When we started this search, we wanted to find a coach who would develop our softball program into an annual contender in the Big 12 Conference and a contender in the NCAA Tournament. We’ve found just that in Craig Snider,” Hocutt said. “Coach Snider has helped build a winning culture his entire career and has done so the right way. We look forward to many years of success under Coach Snider’s watch, and we’re excited to welcome him and his family to Lubbock.”

During the last 21 seasons as an assistant, Snider has made stops at Oklahoma, Florida State and Texas A&M where he has coached 20 All-Americans and made three Women’s College World Series appearances, taking home the championship trophy while on staff at Florida State in 2018. He will be formally introduced at a press conference at a later date.

“I am honored and humbled to help lead this program,” said Snider. “Texas Tech is a special place with incredible support from the administration and fans. I am very excited to facilitate a championship culture on and off the field. Guns up!”

I just run out of time to cover every sport, but the softball program has had a rough go at it and needs some consistency and a steady hand. I feel bad for the players and hope that Snyder is able to get the program back to the NCAA Tournament..

Big 12

Dallas Morning News’ Kevin Sherrington talked to former interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas about what he thinks about the Big 12 and the prospects of things moving forward:

“Number one, they got the four best schools that were left,” he said. “There’s no argument. They don’t have the same marketability without OU and Texas, but it’s going to be a strong conference, and I think they will play very good and entertaining football. And in basketball, the Big 12 will be even better. They are not going to be any softer than the Pac-12 or ACC.

“What is going to screw things up is the TV contract that the Big Ten and SEC are going to have compared to the rest.”

Just guessing, but think somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-$30 million more per school.

Instead of just the haves and have-nots in D1, we will shortly see a middle class, where the Big 12 will reside in perpetuity.

So no 64-school consortium of 16-team super conferences and a divorce from the NCAA? Not with the money the SEC and Big Ten will be bagging, Neinas said. They’ll have no desire to divide it any further. Meaning expansion by the other leagues is probably moot.

I have a bit of a difficult time figuring out what is Neinas’ opinion and that of Sherrington. Regardless, I think the separation from the NCAA is imminent, so there’s that part of it that I disagree with. I don’t know how that plays into the success of the Big 12 financially, but I think the NCAA is on its last legs as a governing entity for football.

Football

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah predicts the wins and losses for each Big 12 team and he’s not real confident that Texas Tech will be better from a win-loss perspective:

Over/under 5

Wins: Murray State, West Virginia, Kansas, Oklahoma
Losses: Houston, at N.C. State, Texas, at Kansas State, at Oklahoma State, Baylor, at TCU, at Iowa State
Analysis: The first year of the Joey McGuire experience at Texas Tech is going to be fun as heck. Results may vary, though, especially with a brutal nonconference schedule that could feature top-10 opponents Houston and NC State followed by Texas to open Big 12 play. Several of the most manageable games are on the road — Iowa State, Kansas State and TCU — while Big 12 favorites Texas, Oklahoma and Baylor all come to town. The Red Raiders will absolutely steal one of those three marquee home games. A win over Oklahoma for the first time since 2011 to finish the year would have Lubbock on fire, even with a 4-8 season. Pick: Under 5 (-135)

I do think the schedule is difficult and I also think there’s a group of teams that haven’t done much of anything in a couple of years. I know that people are jumping on the TCU, Kansas State and Texas bandwagons, but . . . I’m not sure or maybe I’m curious as to why Texas Tech isn’t getting the same type of credit.

Red Raider Sports’ Trevor Cobern has his top 5 newcomers: WR Brady Boyd; OL Cade Briggs; OL Cole Spencer; TE Baylor Cupp; and LB Dimitri Moore..