Red Raiders #16: For the first time in a long time, the Red Raiders are #16 in the Associated Press top 25 and #20 in the Coaches Poll. I'm happy for this group, but basketball rankings are funky early in the season and I tend to look rankings as a snap-shot of where teams are rather than where teams will eventually finish. I don't think that by the end of the year, the Red Raiders will be the 16th team in the nation, but right now, I think the publicity is great.
LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that Pat Knight is happy his team came through against TCU:
"Our whole goal is we want to see how long we can stay in the Top 25," Knight said. "Playing TCU on Tuesday after getting ranked on Monday, I was worried we were only going to be ranked one day. The kids came through."
And PK understands that the more teams that are ranked the better the chance of being picked in the field of 65:
"We’re always worried on Selection Sunday that the Big 12 is going to get four or five in, when we should get six in and this year maybe seven," he said. "It just helps us from a tournament standpoint the more we have in the Top 25, especially in the preseason, because then when you win in your own conference those games mean even more in an RPI sense. Probably the only time we all root for each other is in the preseason."
Get to Know Roberson: ESPN's Andy Katz is showing the Red Raiders a lot of love recently and writes today that PG John Roberson is a player the nation should get to know:
• John Roberson, Jr., G, Texas Tech: The Red Raiders had a huge win at TCU to go to 9-0 under Pat Knight, and a lot of the credit has to go to Roberson. He scored 25 points last week in the win over Washington and then followed it up with 21 points and 10 assists and just four turnovers (and two steals) in the win over the Horned Frogs.
Looking Ahead to the Shockers: Kansas.com's Paul Sullentrop writes that Texas Tech is a big test awaiting the Wichita St. Shockers:
Tech's visit is a rare convergence of a nationally ranked non-conference opponent visiting Wichita when a Shocker team is playing well. No. 21 Mississippi is the last ranked non-conference team to play at WSU, during the 1997-98 season. Since 2005-06, WSU has played six ranked non-conference opponents, all on the road or at neutral sites.
Texas Tech defeated WSU 72-69 last season in Lubbock. The Shockers tied the game in the final minute after trailing by 17 at halftime.
"It's been in the back of our heads since last year, because we felt we could have won that game," WSU junior J.T. Durley said. "We took a lot of games this year, in the non-conference, personal."
Big 12 Links: FWST's Mike Jones writes that the Big 12 teams are making early statements . . . Big 12 Hoops with the Big 12 All Decade Team . . .