Last week, the NCAA ruled that teams could no longer conduct "satellite camps". Such camps usually involved a school hosting athletes from major recruiting markets away from their actual campus.

For instance, the state of Florida has a longstanding tradition of being rich with talent. This benefits schools like Miami, Florida State, and Florida due to their proximity to the area's high schools. But with satellite camps, a school like Michigan - which would normally have difficulty recruiting in a state so far away - could set up a satellite camp in the sunshine state and recruit hundreds of Floridian athletes all at once.

Similarly, Texas Tech could host satellite camps in places like Dallas and Houston, where they could see a lot of talent all in one place without making recruits drive very far from home. With Lubbock being at least five hours from the nearest "big city", the NCAA's ban on satellite camps could be detrimental to the Red Raiders' recruiting efforts.

That said, Texas Tech could potentially take advantage of a loophole in the new rule that would allow them to continue to climb higher up the recruiting ranks.

The NCAA rule states that schools must "conduct all clinics at school facilities or facilities regularly used for practice or competition" according to ESPN. While conventional wisdom would imply that such a rule means Texas Tech could only host recruits in Lubbock, one could interpret the rule in such a way that would allow Tech to still host recruits in multiple cities; one last breath of hope for satellite camps, if you will.

According to this TTU System website, Texas Tech has campuses in Waco, El Paso, and Dallas in addition to others in smaller towns like Fredericksburg (near San Antonio) and Highland Lakes (near Austin).

There are three logical questions that follow:

1. Do these Austin/San Antonio area, Waco, El Paso, and Dallas campuses have any kind of field or athletic facility where a camp could be conducted?

2. Would such a facility fall under the umbrella of "school facilities or facilities regularly used for practice or competition" set forth by the NCAA?

3. Does the Texas Tech football program have any interest in potentially utilizing these campuses?

I think it's definitely worth looking into. Texas Tech recruits heavily in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and there is plenty of talent in the Austin and San Antonio areas too.

Some might say this is a ridiculous idea. It would be an attempt at something unconventional but it may be within the rules; it's crazy enough it just might work. And if it does work out, maybe Texas Tech can purchase some land in Miami or New Orleans to expand the "campus" (mostly joking here). It's been awhile since Texas Tech had a realistic chance to gain a leg up in recruiting, and I would welcome additional talent from all corners of the map with arms wide open.

PS - A far less logical question: Given its campus in Seville, can Texas Tech establish a Spanish pipeline by conducting satellite camps there? If five star recruits ever happen to start coming out of Spain, Texas Tech would have a stronghold there as well.

*anxiously awaits comments about how they don't play American football in Spain*