On the Pitch
Texas Tech and Houston tied 1-1 last night thanks to a penalty kick from Macy Blackburn. They will play Iowa State in Ames on Sunday with first-touch at 1:00 p.m.
On the Diamond
Texas Tech baseball will play Texas in a fall scrimmage exhibition on Saturday, September 27th at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. If the game is streamed, I’ll post it Saturday morning. Double-T 97.3’s Jamie Lent had a bit from the Tim Tadlock press conference (embedded below):
The Texas Tech roster sits at 43 players this Fall with new NCAA rules putting the limit at 34 by the end of the semester. That makes opportunities like this contest important for players to show what they can do and for coaches to get a good look at them against quality competition. Tadlock says there’s a lot to learn from watching guys play in a game like this, “I think going and playing in a different environment, playing in Round Rock, playing in a minor league stadium, playing an opposing team. Just really watching heart rates more than anything. Just seeing if guys can slow the game down and play the game the way you do at home. “
On the Hardwood
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander polled nearly 100 coaches and they picked who they think will be the best player next year and Purdue’s Braden Smith received 51% of the votes with JT Toppin receiving 14%, while Kansas forward Darryn Peterson received 9% and BYU freshman received 7%.
“I am not sure if they will be a top-10 team in order to get the [NPOY] votes from those who only just look for players on a top-10 team, but his combined points and rebounds stats are off the charts.”
On the Gridiron
Something fun. Via ESPN Texas Tech’s Texas Pride uniforms from 2014 received a mention in the “Most ‘State-triotic'” category. Gotta admit that the Maryland uniform in the same category absolutely slapped.
ESPN’s Max Olson with transfer surprises thus far and Skyler Gill-Howard gets a mention:
Gill-Howard was the least hyped of the four starting defensive linemen Texas Tech signed out of the portal, and some questioned whether his size (6-1, 290 pounds) might be an issue as he moved up to Power 4 ball. But he has been a disruptor for the Red Raiders with 10 stops, 2.5 TFLs and an epic 55-yard interception return for a touchdown against Kent State. Gill-Howard hit a max speed of 18.8 mph on the play, according to data powered by Teamworks, a testament to his uncommon abilities for his size.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger is reporting that the Big Ten is now trying to get a new group of conference leaders to discuss a 20-team format with equal guarantees for power conferences. All I know is that the Big Ten is pretty terrible about playoff stuff.
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire on with 365 Sports: