Where are you getting your energy?

Texas Tech announced a partnership with Reliant that “supports Texas Tech Athletics, fans, alumni and the Lubbock community.” I don’t know what this means, but presume it is good.

Basketball

Three Man Weave is one of my favorite independent basketball websites and they are doing a top 40 with Texas Tech checking in at No. 18:

Checking in at No. 18 on our Top 40 countdown are those crazy Red Raiders from Texas Tech!

Mark Adams didn’t skip a beat in his first season as head coach, leading TTU to a 3-seed and Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAAT. What does he have for an encore?… pic.twitter.com/o1jlZEy4ch

— Three Man Weave (@3MW_CBB) August 23, 2022

There’s a whole thread there, so please check it out.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello has his way-too-early top 25 and Texas Tech checks in at No. 24:

I think the two X factors for Texas Tech this season will be a pair of newcomers: five-star recruit Elijah Fisher and former Texas transfer Jaylon Tyson. Despite reclassifying from the 2023 class, Fisher turns 19 years old in January, so he’s college-ready from an age perspective. He was also one of the more impressive players at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship, averaging 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds. He’s not much of an outside shooter at this point, but surrounding him with the likes of Kerwin Walton and Kevin Obanor could minimize that issue. As for Tyson, he was a top-50 recruit coming out of high school but barely played at Texas before leaving midseason. He was a multidimensional scorer in high school, and has the potential to make an impact on the wing.

Football

Five players were picked as part of the 10th Annual Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List: DB Adrian Frye, DB Reggie Pearson Jr., QB Tyler Shough, RB SaRodorick Thompson and OLB Tyree Wilson. Additionally, Tyler Shough was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list.

Dallas Morning News’ Ryan Mainville has a game-by-game prediction and I’ll tell you that Mainville is predicting a 6-6 record, 4-5 in conference, and let you click over to see how that happens.

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams writes about Wyoming transfer Keyon Blankenbaker:

Blankenbaker is a Kansas City native whose family moved to Chicago during his sixth-grade year. His father is an engineer for Amtrak, his mother an accountant for Honeywell.

Coming out of Oak Park-River Forest High School, Blankenbaker said he received a scholarship offer from Cincinnati and a preferred walk-on invitation from Wisconsin before he signed with Wyoming. After redshirting in 2017, he appeared in 40 games the past four years and then got the itch to try something new.

“I felt like I was getting too comfortable as a player,” he said. “I wanted to play at a higher level, learn more, get my IQ up, experience different talent.”