Texas Tech announces complete non-conference basketball schedule

Amidst all the news surrounding the 2020 election cycle, Texas Tech basketball dropped their 2020-21 non-conference schedule. As expected, the schedule features games almost exclusively within the state of Texas. The only exception is a late January against LSU in Baton Rouge, a part of the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Tech will start their season on November 25th against Northwestern State. The last time the two teams played resulted in a 79-44 win for Tech in 2018, where the eventual national runner-up sprung out to a 53-10 lead and had all 13 players receive at least five minutes. From there, the squad will launch straight into a miniature tournament, as they will face Sam Houston State on November 27th in Lubbock before heading to Fort Worth to face Houston on the 29th. Another game in Lubbock against St. John’s (as part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle) will be the next big test for Tech.

After the St. Johns, the Red Raiders will play a trio of overmatched schools before hosting Kansas to open their Big 12 slate in December. Another Big 12 game at Oklahoma will follow, and a game on December 29th against Incarnate Word will serve as the final non-conference game before the normal Big 12 schedule commences in January.

The schedule should set up nicely for a strong start to the season for Chris Beard and company. Houston and St. John’s provide Quadrant I win opportunities, while the rest of the games should be easily winnable for a team projected to be top ten in America by both T-Rank and Kenpom. The full schedule for the 2020-21 season can be found here.