Matador Mailbag: If Tech played USF today, who would win?

Prologue: Texas Tech football finished the regular season winning two out of three and Tech basketball looks to be ranked yet again after their overtime win over a ranked Nevada team. All on top of which, every Tech fan seems to be happy that we aren’t part of the crazy coaching carousel going on right now. From Tennessee, still not having a head coach, to the Jimbo Fisher fiasco (something we haven’t seen in 40 years), I think Kirby Hocutt was even more right to stay pat with Kingsbury.

More good news is Hocutt has rebuffed more than one suitor who has offered him the AD job at their university. The one we have all heard was Arkansas, who just hired Chad Morris from SMU. Now, like Kingsbury, Hocutt or not, it always feels good to be someone’s first choice than a place holder. A feeling we Tech fans have felt far too often in recent years. Looks like from top to bottom, the athletic department has put people in charge of programs that want to be Red Raiders for a very long time and have no wishes to go anywhere else. Something we can all be thankful for.

Great question. The Big 12 slate is stacked from top to bottom. Here’s a look:

big12sports.com

I can’t to wait to watch every single game, but because of the crazy nature of bowl season, nothing is guaranteed. So though my heart wants to say over, my better judgment says under. Leaving our game out for a moment, I think the winners at first glance will be West Virginia, Texas, OSU and Iowa State. I think all the others are toss ups and could go either way.

For supposed “realists” the number would have to be in the 8 win range. And while I think that number is definitely attainable, I’m starting to think that Kingsbury will coach out his contract so long as he doesn’t have a 3 or 4 win season in the next 3 seasons. Which wouldn’t be the worse thing even if he continues in the 6 or 7 win per season range. This is especially true if you don’t have a replacement in mind and if you aren’t sure you can get that replacement. Even a historical powerhouse in Tennessee is on their 5th choice and become a laughing stock because of how botched their coaching search is going. We don’t want to be in a position where we are just hiring whoever was left over after all the bigger programs got their guy.

It would be a lot like Tech’s game against Texas a few weeks ago... or any game against Charlie Strong in the past. Very close, I would say. Probably in the 34-28 range in terms of score. Though USF is no slouch, and neither is their coach, you have to believe that Tech has better athletes and with their improved defense would be able to come away with a win.

Now give Kingsbury a few weeks to plan, and this could turn into a 2013 style rout which would be an awesome way to end the season. However, most bowl games are drag out fights as opposed to blowouts so, buckle in for that.

I think it comes down to Carter and Duffey. Kingsbury likes both and it’ll be interesting to see this competition play out. However, we could find ourselves in a 2013 situation where neither of the front runners get it for whatever reason, and in that case, I still feel confident in Tech’s other options at the position. Considering the improved offensive line play this year, expected to get even better next year (all juniors except Stawarz who will be a senior), whoever is under center will have a breakout year.

Light week without football and basketball not in full force yet. Thanks for the questions and keep them coming.