Matador Mailbag: Texas Tech top 5 finish in basketball?

Prologue: It is so nice to be able to watch Tech’s bowl game next weekend without any talk of replacing Kingsbury before, during or after the game.

No matter where you fall on that topic, it can be agreed on that it’s a big distraction and without it, we can just get immersed in the game and enjoy.

With Tech’s basketball team off to a hot start, and baseball reloading for another run to Omaha, it’ll be good to let football be out of the constant spotlight for a few months between Christmas and the start of Spring practice.

I love almost any game that doesn’t have ranked opponents in it. Take away the awful announcers who rarely call the game and instead spend every available moment hyping up the college football playoff or other bowl games, and they have a really good chance to be some of the more entertaining games. Besides, with no vested interest in who wins and who doesn’t, it’s a cool experience just to get to watch football. Do you know what I mean?

As for me, outside of all the 6-6 vs 6-6 games as I just mentioned, I’m interested in seeing Boise State play Oregon and Michigan play South Carolina. A few years ago, these would have been marquee matchups, but none of those 4 are ranked, but they should still be fun.

Looking at the Big 12 slate, I’m excited for all of the games. The one that most intrigues me outside of the Tech game is Iowa State vs Memphis. Memphis is ranked, but I want to see Iowa State finish strong. It’s hard to believe the Cyclones had such a terrific October only to be followed by a fairly pedestrian November. We as Tech fans—even under Leach—can sympathize with Iowa State in that regard.

Wouldn’t bet on it. Joe Robinson has already been relieved of his duties, and I think that was more of “had to” than “wanted to.” When Joe Robinson came to Tech, he was widely thought of as one of the best special teams coaches in the country and a major boost to this team. However, it hasn’t been great time in Lubbock for him and I truly believe it has no barring on his ability as a coach. It was just a bad couple of years.

With all the progress Tech had this year, new coaching additions being added with Coach Jones for o-line, Coach Juluke for running backs, and Coach Jamison at d-line, the message has to be one of consistency. Can’t have major upheavals on the staff each year Tech doesn’t have a winning record on top of coaches who bolt for other schools. I think you send the message, “We have our guys and we are going to build on the good things this year.”

So outside of a new special teams coach, which will be done after the bowl game according to Kingsbury, there may be a slight chance of an addition for co-offensive coordinator and play caller. That’s something a lot of fans want, but aren’t sure they’re going to get it. A much more likely scenario is Kingsbury hands over play calling duties to Eric Morris or promotes from within. Someone like Zach Kittley would be a good choice, in my opinion.

If they do, it might be right at No. 5. I can see it happening, too. I like Shocka Smart, but don’t have faith in his basketball team right now. Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma are all projected to have down years. So I see the conference playing out like:

Kansas, West Virginia, Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Texas, OU, Kansas State, Oklahoma State.

I’m a baseball guy, so take that with a grain of salt.

6-6.

Thanks for sending in your questions everyone. We’ll get back to it next week!