I feel like I am a day late and a dollar short with discussing the 2024 Texas Tech football schedule. I am at least 2 days late and more than a dollar short, but that’s probably okay. There’s an entire winter and summer to discuss the schedule, there’s no reason to get in a hurry.

One quick story before we get to the schedule. I was talking to the principal at the high school last night after Yo’s basketball training and he said that Oklahoma had been to Kaufman to check out a kid, but the Oklahoma person saw Yoyo working out in weight room with his athletics class and wanted to know who he was. The AD had to tell him that he’s going to have to wait a few years as Yo is class of 2030. He’s only 12, but I keep telling people that he’s something different.

Now, onto the schedule.

Week 1: 8/31 Abilene Christian
Week 2: 9/7 @ Washington State
Week 3: 9/14 North Texas
Week 4: 9/21 Arizona State
Week 5: 9/28 Cincinnati
Week 6: 10/5 @ Arizona
Week 7: 10/12 OFF
Week 8: 10/19 Baylor
Week 9: 10/26 @ TCU
Week 10: 11/2 @ Iowa State
Week 11: 11/9 Colorado
Week 12: 11/16 OFF
Week 13: 11/23 @ Oklahoma State
Week 14: 11/30 West Virginia

• That’s 7 home games and that seems like a lot and I think that’s good. I love the start of the season, 4 of the first 5 games are at home so there’s no reason not to get a good start. And the end of the season means that 4 of the last 7 games are on the road.
• Texas Tech has off weeks, October 12th and November 16th, which works out to be the 7th and 12th weeks of the season I think.
• There were rumblings that the Big 12 would be absolutely littered with mid-week games and that didn’t happen for Texas Tech.
• I don’t know who the best team on the schedule is, maybe Arizona or Oklahoma State. A lot is dependent on who returns for Arizona, but right now I’d bet on Oklahoma State.
• Colorado and Prime Time come to Lubbock. I’m not 100% sold on what he’s doing in Boulder, but he’s a showman and he’s part of college football. Fine with me.
• If you could pick one home game to go to, what would it be?
• Same thing for an away game, if money wasn’t an issue, which game would you love to go to?
• Would you like to see the entire Big 12 schedule? Click on image to embiggen.

CBS Sports’ Dean Straka has a list of Big 12 transfers ready to make an impact in 2024 and Texas Tech has one player on the list, receiver Josh Kelly. This is probably a good thing for you to read just to catch up on where good players landed because it can be incredibly difficult to follow during the transfer portal period and then compare that to the schedule drop and who Texas Tech will play.

Josh Kelly, WR, Texas Tech: Kelly makes for a much-needed boost within a Texas Tech receivers room that loses three of four leading receivers from 2023, including top pass-catcher Xavier White. The former Fresno State wideout from 2019-22 enjoyed a career season during his lone year at Washington State in 2023, leading the team with 923 yards and eight touchdowns. Look for Kelly to be a go-to target in 2024 for quarterback Behren Morton, who is in line to start after seeing considerable action in place of an injured Tyler Shough in each of the past two seasons.

Hmmm.

Sleeper schedule alert Texas Tech 🌵 pic.twitter.com/rwTvZ19823

— Josh Pate (@LateKickJosh) January 31, 2024

CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodds on yesterday’s news that the State of Tennessee, along with Virginia, filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA, “challenging the legality of the association’s name, image and likeness guidelines.”

Here’s the summary:

In Tennessee and Virginia v. NCAA, the states are seeking to do away with NIL guidelines adopted by the NCAA in July 2021. Those guidelines have been modified since their initial introduction.

The suit alleges that the NCAA has violated antitrust laws by denying athletes their ability to earn full compensation for their names, images and likenesses. The plaintiffs — including the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia — may, in a matter of days, seek a temporary injunction that could suspend the NCAA’s NIL rules and limitations.

The NCAA responded a few hours after the lawsuit was filed, defending its NIL guidelines in a written statement.

“While the NCAA generally does not comment on specific infractions cases, it is important to remember that NCAA member schools and conferences not only make the rules but routinely call for greater enforcement of those rules and holding violators accountable,” the NCAA statement read. “In recent years, this has been especially true as it relates to establishing and enforcing a consistent set of national rules intended to manage the name, image and likeness environment.

“This legal action would exacerbate what our members themselves have frequently described as a ‘wild west’ atmosphere, further titling competitive imbalance among schools in neighboring states and diminishing protections for student-athletes from potential exploitation. The NCAA remains firmly committed to protecting and expanding student-athletes’ NIL rights and opportunities. However, our membership has steadfastly supported the prohibition on impermissible recruiting contacts, booster involvement in recruiting prospects and the use of NIL offers as recruiting inducements.”

I won’t even try to wrap my head around all this. It’s an antitrust case filed by an attorney general from a state against the NCAA. I wouldn’t even begin to try to be an expert on how this plays out.