10 Little Known Facts about Texas Tech Football

With only 10 days left until the 2016/2017 Red Raider football season gets under way let's take a look at 10 facts the average fan might not know about Texas Tech football.

5-Way Tie

Texas Tech's last conference title was in 1994 when they were a part of the Southwest Conference. While they were technically champions, Texas Tech shared that title with 4 other teams. Baylor, Rice, Texas, and TCU all can also say they were 1994 Southwest Conference champions.

7 Conference Titles

The Red Raiders won the most conference titles in Border Conference history. Arizona State was second with 6 followed by Arizona with 3.

Matadors

Many people may know, but the Red Raiders were actually the Matadors from 1925 - 1936. The name formally changed to the Red Raiders at the beginning of the 1937 season. The name came from their bright scarlet uniforms.

15 Years of Winning

Texas Tech was the only school to have a winning record every year since the Big 12 was formed up until 2011 when the Red Raiders suffered their first losing season since joining the Big 12.

Bowl Game Tie

In 1974 the Red Raiders faced the Vanderbilt Commodores in the Peach Bowl. The game would end in a 6-6 tie. Texas Tech is 14-22-1 in bowl games.

The West Texas Championship

Before Texas Tech joined the Southwest Conference, the Red Raiders and Horned Frogs rivalry had a traveling trophy which was a miniature saddle. The game was called "The West Texas Championship".

74

Texas Tech and Baylor have played each other 74 times. The Red Raiders have faced Baylor the most times out of any opponent since the team began collegiate play in 1925. Baylor leads 37-36-1 with the lone tie happening in 1945.

Raider Red

In the early 1970's the Southwest Conference created a rule which forbid live mascots traveling to away games unless the host school approved the mascot. The Masked Rider's horse fell into this rule. So instead of hoping the horse would be approved each week, Texas Tech created Raider Red as an alternate mascot.

Texas Tech's First Stadium

For the 1925 season and first game of 1926, Texas Tech played its games in a makeshift stadium on the South Plains Fairgrounds. In 1926, Tech Stadium opened. The 12,000 seat stadium was a horseshoe style setup and was located on campus.

Goin' Band from Raiderland

The band has been around as long as the football team itself. The band's name was changed from The Matador Band to the Goin' Band from Raiderland because the band was the first collegiate band to travel to an away game. Will Rogers himself once funded a trip to Fort Worth so the band could perform at a TCU game.

*information sourced via Wikipedia*

So VTM readers, did you learn anything new?