Why Texas Tech Should Wear Black Tomorrow (and TCU should too)

I know some of you rage-clicked on this link just to rage-comment “WHO CARES WHAT WE WEAR?! SPEND MORE TIME FOCUSING ON WINNING THAN LOOKING GOOD!” So I’ll preface the article with this: of freaking course everyone cares more about winning than what uniforms we wear. This is not an article saying that Texas Tech should wear a certain uniform combination instead of winning, or that they should be more concerned with fashion than the result on the scoreboard.

Now that we’re all on the same page, there is a very good reason why Texas Tech should wear as much black as they can tomorrow against TCU (though being the visitors, they’ll have to wear a white jersey). The Horned Frogs might very well be cursed by the color black, and Texas Tech should try to take advantage of that.

EXAMPLE #1

In last year’s Alamo Bowl against the Oregon Ducks, TCU head coach Gary Patterson started the game wearing a black shirt on the sidelines. Who cares, right? Nobody would have ever noticed until one of the most miraculous college football games ensued.

Ever heard the expression “the game was a tale of two halves”? Yeah, that was last year’s Alamo Bowl. Oregon stormed out to a 31-0 lead at halftime. Either due to excessive perspiration or to try and enact some voodoo spell on his team, Patterson changed into a purple shirt.

It worked. TCU scored 31 unanswered in the second half, forcing overtime. The Horned Frogs went on to win in the third overtime, 47-41, tying Texas Tech’s bowl game record for the largest comeback in NCAA history.

EXAMPLE #2

The last time Texas Tech won in Fort Worth was in 2012. They wore black helmets and black pants, basically as much black as you can wear on the road. TCU wore all black. That game also went to three overtimes, and the Red Raiders prevailed in a classic.

EXAMPLE #3

The last time Texas Tech visited Fort Worth in 2014, they wore white and grey. TCU wore purple and what I would consider to be dark grey (but some pictures look more like black). The Frogs mercilessly beat the ever loving crap out of the Red Raiders, 82-27.

EXAMPLE #4

I’m not sure if last year’s loss to TCU was better or worse from a fan’s perspective. As embarrassing as 2014 was, 2015 was flat out heartbreaking. TCU’s Aaron Green caught a tipped pass in the back of the end zone with just seconds remaining, and the Red Raiders fell short of knocking off the #3 team in the country, 55-52.

That day, TCU wore white and purple, no black, and Texas Tech busted out red for the first time in the Kingsbury era, straying from the traditional black home jerseys.

EXAMPLE #5

TCU has lost two home games this season, a double overtime thriller to Arkansas and an almost epic comeback to Oklahoma. Both times, the Frogs wore all black.

Call it a fluke if you want, but given how desperate Texas Tech is for a win I think it’s worth it to pull out all the stops. TCU plays worse when they wear black, and we play better against them the more we wear it. I hope TCU wears black tops and black pants tomorrow. I hope Texas Tech wears black helmets and black pants. I hope our fans in attendance at the game wear black. And I hope Gary Patterson wears black on the sidelines.

And if he’s forced to change at halftime, I sincerely hope it doesn’t result in a 31-point swing for the Horned Frogs. Wreck ‘em Texas Tech, and go Red Black Raiders!