On the Court
The Lady Raiders lost to Arizona 66-57 and fall to 3-14 in the Big 12. They close their conference play at home on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
On the Diamond
the No. 13 Texas Tech softball team are on the road to face North Texas today at 2:00 p.m. and will then play in the Texas A&M Tournament where they will play Idaho State, Princeton, Texas State, and No. 6 Texas A&M.
Sophomore Lauren Allred was named Big 12 Player of the Week!
Allred started all seven games Tech played in and slashed .476/1.143/.538 with 10 hits, 11 runs and 12 RBI. The Texarkana native also had 24 total bases, three home runs, three doubles and a triple while swiping two bags in Tech’s 7-0 weekend. Against Detroit Mercy, Allred totaled 11 bases, the most in a single game by a Red Raider since 2018. In that game, she went 3-for-5 with two homers, a triple and four RBI.
On the Gridiron
A 10-minute tour from Antonio Huffman of the new Dustin R. Womble Football Center. It legitimately takes 10 minutes to do a highlight package of this place. I wasn’t sure why Patrick Mahomes was in the area, in addition to the game, the grand opening of this facility was part of it.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly ($) has the returning production for all teams and Texas Tech is 4th overall, 75%, 68% on offense, good for 25th, and 82% on defense, which is 1st. Incoming transfers are included, but if a player is moving up a level, only half of the production is included.
Over the past three years, we’ve seen 23 of 398 total FBS teams (5.8%) returning at least 78% of their production in a given season. For a 136-team FBS, that’s equivalent to about 7.9 teams per year. But right now only two teams clear that bar: Clemson and Arizona State.
If we lower the bar all the way to 70%, that ropes in six more teams for 2025: Illinois, Kennesaw State, Rutgers, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt. Over the past three years, teams at 70% returning production or higher have improved 70% of the time, which says good things for five or six of the eight teams above. Those that improved did so by an average of 7.1 points, and considering Clemson and ASU made the CFP in 2024 and Illinois and Texas A&M both ranked 31st or better in SP+, a touchdown’s worth of improvement from any of these teams would be significant for their playoff hopes.
Rivals’ Adam Friedman ranked the top defensive line classes and has the Texas Tech haul as the best:
This Texas Tech transfer class has been one of the biggest stories of this cycle. The Red Raiders loaded up on talented defensive linemen in the transfer portal and currently hold two four-stars in Hunter and Height along with two high three-stars in Gill-Howard and Holmes.
Texas Tech beat Texas and Florida State to land Hunter, a second-team All-Big 12 selection this past season. Height was a strong contributor for Georgia Tech last season and has one year of eligibility remaining.
LSU and Florida State had been pursuing Gill-Howard before he decided to commit to Texas Tech. Holmes showed his ability to get pressure on the quarterback while at Houston this past season.
Also from Friedman his his thoughts on receiver Micah Hudson:
To say things have gone sideways for Hudson is a bit of an understatement. The five-star from the 2024 recruiting class was absolutely unstoppable at the high school level and could have signed with any college he wanted. The Texas native picked Texas Tech because of the strong relationship he built with the coaching staff and the belief that he would thrive in Lubbock. After an underwhelming freshman season with the Red Raiders, Hudson transferred to Texas A&M in mid-December.
About a month after joining the Aggies, Hudson left the team for undisclosed reasons and he has yet to rejoin his new teammates. Texas A&M would love to have the talented receiver back but there is no timetable for his return. With Hudson in the fold, the Aggies would have a legitimate argument for the best receiver class in this transfer cycle. KC Concepcion, Mario Craver and Jonah Wilson are an impressive trio but Hudson’s skill set would have given the Aggies a receiver corps that, on paper, would have been tough to match.
Hudson’s lack of production as a freshman and this latest bump in the road make it unlikely he fulfills the five-star projection.
And again from Friedman the top 5 portal defensive back classes, Texas Tech is the third best:
Texas Tech’s impressive transfer class features five defensive backs – two four-stars and a trio of three-stars. Former Purdue standout freshman Tarrion Grant played in 11 games this season and didn’t allow a single touchdown while breaking up two passes and forcing a fumble. The Red Raiders should be really excited about his potential along with former Mississippi State standout Brice Pollock. He has already played nearly 1,000 snaps over the first two years of his career.
Former Charlotte standout Dontae Balfour, who started his career at North Carolina, has shown he has a knack for getting his hands on the ball while starting for the 49ers during the last two seasons. Cole Wisniewski, a 6-foot-4 defensive back, was a star for North Dakota State and earned a spot on the 2023 FCS All-American team. He is entering his final collegiate season after missing last season with an injury.
Former UTEP defensive back Amier Boyd-Matthews is also part of this Texas Tech transfer class.