On the Pitch
Texas Tech soccer plays their first match, an exhibition, against Denver tonight at 7:00 p.m. They will then head to the West Coast to take on San Diego State on August 14th.
On the Hardwood
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello on the best non-conference games for every top 25 team, with this being a pretty easy one for Texas Tech:
Dec. 20 vs. Duke at Madison Square Garden
Another elite head-to-head individual battle, this time featuring preseason All-American JT Toppin and Duke freshman Cameron Boozer. Toppin put up some otherworldly single-game performances last season, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Boozer do the same this season. Big picture, though, this is a fascinating neutral-site game right before league play begins.
On the Gridiron
ESPN’s Matt Miller on draft prospects with a lot of pressure heading into the season:
David Bailey, Edge, Texas Tech
Texas Tech has assembled a defensive line group as talented as any in the country, with Stanford transfer Bailey as the headliner.
The 6-foot-4, 250-pound senior was mostly used as just a pass rusher at Stanford, which led to limited snaps, but good things happened when he was on the field. In 2024, he posted seven sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles in only 339 snaps.
“Bailey is a blur off the ball,” an NFC South area scout said. “I mean, he can flat-out move. It’s better than James Pearce Jr. last year and he [was selected in the] late first.”
Bailey is indeed quick, with a 2.64-second time to first pressure. That isn’t quite Abdul Carter territory (2.48), but it was good enough for No. 23 in the country last season.
Bailey has to prove he can become a three-down player and not live purely as a situational rusher. But he’s talented enough that one Big 12 coach told me he’s the best pass rusher his team will see all season long.
CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford on the 10 easiest schedules in 2025, including Texas Tech:
6. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Number of opponents in cumulative top 25: 2
Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders assessed every need on their roster this offseason and landed several big fish, enough for the program to warrant “Big 12 championship threat” status ahead of the opener. For a program that’s never reached the league’s title game, it doesn’t hurt that the 2025 schedule should do its part too with Arizona State and Kansas State being the only nationally ranked opponents.
Videos! Episode 1 of this season’s The Brand is going to be released some time today with the trailer released last night and some highlights from the first day of full pads.