On the Gridiron

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah on 5 Big 12 teams poised to make a run to the playoffs including Texas Tech, Kansas State, Baylor, BYU, and Arizona State.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg ($) on teams that could break-through, which includes Illinois, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Iowa State, North Carolina, and Colorado. This is a bit of the write-up on Texas Tech:

This winter, Texas Tech pulled in ESPN’s No. 2 transfer class, which featured UCF’s Lee Hunter and other talented linemen on both sides of the ball. Texas Tech brought in 17 new players, more than McGuire and general manager James Blanchard thought it needed, but “we had so many ‘yesses,'” McGuire said.

The team focused its efforts on the lines, especially the offensive front, adding transfers Hunter Zambrano (Illinois State), Howard Sampson (North Carolina) and Will Jados (Miami of Ohio) to supplement a group that regained Davion Carter for another year. Texas Tech finished 61st nationally in rushing this past season, despite having star running back Tahj Brooks, and 64th in sacks allowed.

“You look at the guys that are winning the conferences, you look at the guys that are playing in the playoffs, they’re doing it because they’re really good up front,” McGuire said. “It’s hard to be young in the offense and defensive line and think you’re going to be successful. So we were able to get older in both of those areas.”

On the Court

CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson on re-seeding the 16 teams with Texas Tech at #9 and Arkansas checking at #16:

If this was based strictly on how much things have changed for the better since the start February, then Arkansas has an argument for No. 1. The Razorbacks went from possibly out of the tournament to on the bubble to the Sweet 16 behind a couple of vibe-shifting wins, the most recent of which was bouncing Rick Pitino and No. 2 seed St. John’s from the NCAA Tournament. But stacked up against the rest of the group — all single-digit seeds in the tournament who also rank inside the top 25 in the predictive metrics — the Razorbacks round up the group. NCAA committee ranking: No. 37