Which football games are worth attending this fall?

Not everyone is fortunate enough to live in the motherland that is Lubbock, Texas.

The good news is that Lubbock isn’t too far from many of Texas’s larger cities, and the Red Raiders play their fair share of games in the Metroplex, Houston, Austin, etc. As we’re about to hit the summer break, we take a peak at this season’s upcoming games

Eastern Washington

Cheap tickets, warm weather, and your best bet for a win this fall - all reasons to consider this game. Game one is typically fun, the energy is there, and you can get a decent sense of what the team will be able to do for the year. This game could prove more competitive than fans would prefer because EWU is very good, but this game isn’t in the top tier to attend this fall.

Worth the drive? - Eye of the beholder.

Arizona State

Revenge is on my mind when I see the Sun Devils come to Lubbock for this early season tilt. I was one of the few that made the jaunt to the desert to see some no-name running back score 8 touchdowns. While fans might not want this one as bad as we wanted Arkansas a few years ago, the Jones will be sold out and rocking.

Worth the drive? Yes.

@Houston

The Cougars have a new stadium, the weather should be tolerable, and Major Applewhite is easy to root against. What more could a fan want? (sarcasm)

If you’re curious as to what “H-Town Takeover” looks like sans Tom Hermann than consider this one a great game to see. I, unfortunately, expect a close game….we could win and we’ll feel like that was supposed to happen. If we lose…we’ll all regret paying to go and be mad.

Worth the drive? Maybe. Only go if you’re in Austin, and the community that surrounds Houston. There’s not much upside to this game for a drive that’s greater than three hours.

Oklahoma State

This is the marquee home game for the 2017 slate. Oklahoma State has dominated Texas Tech since 2009, and they likely will again in 2017. (Sorry for the skepticism)

The streak does have to end somewhere though and maybe a motivated team following non-conference has the juice to do it.

Plus, this is a great candidate for a blackout game.

Worth the drive? Yes.

@Kansas

David Beaty is working some magic in Lawrence and he has a lot of P5 talent on this roster finally. Seeing as how Tech doesn’t like to show up when we play in Kansas, this game has me more nervous than I’d care to discuss. I’ve heard great stories about Lawrence, and Kansas City is a good spot. You’ll likely have fun if you were to make the trip, but this is requiring a lot of work to see rural Kansas.

Worth the drive? No, unless you’re local to the area.

West Virginia

Two years ago I flew to Pittsburgh, rented a car, and took this game in with my family. If you haven’t been to this part of the country it’s worth checking out because - how many excuses do you have to go to West Virginia and Pennsylvania?

Overall, the people were warm, the food was good, and the scenery was excellent. I don’t love Texas Tech’s odds to win this one if I’m being honest, but it doesn’t take away from the experience much.

Worth the drive/flight? Yes

Iowa State

(See write up about Houston game)

There’s little upside to this game, seeing as how if we don’t win we likely won’t be going to a bowl game. I guess if you’re just livid about what happened in Ames last year it’s worth attending for the out-of-town crowd.

Worth the drive? No.

Kansas State

The Purple Wizard needs to retire, but that’s for another day. The Red Raiders have played K-State well the last few years and I expect this year to be the same. It’s very realistic this is the swing game Coach Kingsbury’s tenure at Tech and has major bowl implications.

I doubt this is a night game, so you’ll likely be looking at a 2:30pm or 11:00am kick-off here. Depending on how the season is going, this is a potentially interesting game.

Worth the drive? Wait and see.

Baylor

Jerry World is worth the drive. There’s really nothing else to say.

Worth the drive? Yes. Always.

TCU

I could make a compelling argument that TCU has replaced A&M as Texas Tech’s primary rival since coming over to the Big 12. These games are always close (except that 80 point game…), and I think there’s some legit hate between the fan bases.

If this game isn’t sold out, then Kingsbury is likely fired by now. Given that, I still think it’s worth attending.

Worth the drive? Yes.

Texas

Nothing caps a season quite like a win over the Longhorns. I’m not going to say it *makes* a season, but if we went 6-6 with a win over Texas, I’d speculate Kingsbury kept his job. History can suck sometimes though, because Texas Tech never wins in Austin. This one being one day after Thanksgiving can also throw a kink into your plans.

Unless you really like Tech’s odds heading into this game - I’d say you should maybe stay home.

Worth the drive? Yes, but for locals only.