On the Track
Texas Tech track & field swept the Big 12 Indoor titles on Saturday, the first for the women and the third-straight conference indoor title. Build the statue, re-name the highway, whatever you think for West Kittley. Congrats!
On the Diamond
No. 13 Texas Tech softball downed No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, a significant win, and this was on the heels of shutting out Texas State in the game prior to that. NiJaree Canady went the entire way, pitching 7, giving up 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk and striking out 10. They ended up losing to Texas A&M on Sunday, 7-6, with Chloe Riassetto and Samantha Lincoln in the circle. They’ll start conference play this weekend as they host Oklahoma State.
Texas Tech baseball went 1-2 over the 2025 Las Vegas Baseball Classic with a win over Illinois and losses to Texas and Washington. They will host UC San Diego for a 2-game series starting on Tuesday and then head to Phoenix to play Grand Canyon University this weekend.
On the Court
The Lady Raiders received a much needed win with a 83-79 win in OT over Colorado. They start the Big 12 Championships in Kansas City starting March 5th and will play Kansas at 8:00 p.m.
CBS Sports Isaac Trotter wrote up about Texas Tech’s win in Kansas:
Texas Tech has a playbook that would make everyone jealous.
Williams is a 6-foot-6 maestro who operates as the chess board queen who can do almost everything. Texas Tech used bootyball with Williams to find mismatches, draw a second KU defender and generate open 3-pointers. Whenever Kansas had the undersized David Coit on the floor, Williams found him relentlessly. When Kansas switched KJ Adams onto Williams and stayed home on the shooters, Williams calmly got to his fadeaway jumper to quiet a KU crowd that wanted so desperately to get into the game. Williams finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and just one turnover. Maybe more importantly, he looked healthy as a horse after painful ankle injuries kept him sidelined for Texas Tech’s last two games. His isolation brilliance in the middle of the floor helps Texas Tech have a true answer to the test at all three levels.
This is what McCasland was envisioning when this team was constructed last spring. Toppin, a New Mexico product, was the coveted addition, but all the newcomers have meshed nearly flawlessly on this roster. Pitt transfer Federiko Federiko is a serviceable rim-runner. Hawkins, a Minnesota transfer, is the steady pass-first point guard who can shake off an iffy shooting night with a pair of 3-pointers late in the second half without breaking a sweat. Drake transfer Kevin Overton doesn’t have an enormous role but he’s a darn good eighth man who can guard and knock down treys. Anderson won’t win Big 12 Freshman of the Year –– that’s going to Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe –– but he looks like an incredible evaluation who has given Texas Tech’s offense a jolt of shotmaking and fearlessness. How many freshmen are draining five 3-pointers, ripping down four boards and dishing out six assists without a turnover in the Phog? It’s a short list.
On the Gridiron
Open For Business’ John Kurtz on the possibility that the Big 12 may be finalizing a private equity decision in order to keep pace in the world of college athletics:
Initial reporting on this also indicated the 15-20% that a private equity company would get from the league would be a cut of future earnings. It wouldn’t mean that they actually own a chunk of the league. Theoretically, it means they wouldn’t have the power to make decisions about how the league operates.
There is, of course, the risk that as soon as you ink your deal, the SEC and Big Ten will follow suit to keep you just as far behind the eight ball as you were before. They don’t seem to be in the business of letting anybody gain ground on them.
It will be interesting to see what the terms of a private equity agreement would look like. The CBS report about Big 12 private equity talks said the league might have to agree to a grant of rights beyond 2031 to seal the deal. This would assure their private equity partner that the conference will stay together long-term.
The NFL Combine was this weekend and RB Tahj Brooks, TE Jalin Conyers, WR Josh Kelly, and OL Caleb Rogers all participated. That’s great news to have so many players participating and I always felt that this was an indication of the talent level. The Big 12 Pro Day (which I think is so much better than individual school pro days and probably significantly more efficient will be in a few weeks starting on March 19th at the Star in Frisco.
