On the Gridiron
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-1, 4-1)
Bad Guys: Kansas State Wildcats (4-4, 3-2)
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium | Manhattan, Kansas
When: Saturday, November 1st @ 2:30 pm
TV & Streaming: FOX
Radio: The Varsity Network
The Line: Texas Tech -7.5
Game Notes: Texas Tech | Kansas State
Weather Report: Partly Cloudy, High 54, Low 33
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams: Texas Tech football at Kansas State — Scouting report, prediction for Big 12 game
Texas Tech 31, Kansas State 27: Texas Tech’s the more talented team and a 7-point favorite. How might the Wildcats make up for that? They’re the least penalized team in the Big 12, and they’re second in the Big 12 and eighth in the FBS in turnover margin. Tech has a decade-plus history of failure in Manhattan, so don’t be surprised if it’s uncomfortably close in the fourth quarter.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams: Texas Tech football preview, 5 questions with KSU football writer Wyatt D. Wheeler
ESPN’s Pamela Maldonado: Week 10 best bets: How to bet Texas Tech-Kansas State, Georgia Tech-NC State and more
Then there’s the trench gap. Texas Tech has the best run defense in the country and the third-best pass rush, generating the fifth-most sacks and the most total pressures by a wide margin. Kansas State, meanwhile, bottom tier, 89th against the run and 108th in pressure rate. That’s where this flips.
Avery Johnson completes 68% of his passes when clean, but just 42% under pressure. Against this front, he’ll be running for his life while Tech attacks from every angle. Tech’s defense contains dual-threat QBs because they win inside and off the edge. Johnson’s legs keep him alive, not ahead and against this unit, survival won’t be enough.
Texas Tech is faster, deeper and better in both trenches. The number reflects it, and Morton’s return stretches the gap. K-State’s resurgence acknowledged. Supremacy unchanged.
If you can grab -7 at -110, take it.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly: College football Week 10 preview: Road tests with playoff implications
Topeka Capital-Journal’s Wyatt D. Wheeler: Kansas State vs Texas Tech score prediction — Can the Wildcats upset the Red Raiders?
On the Hardwood
Toughest Team Wins.
ESPN’s Myron Medcalf: Predicting 30-win men’s NCAA basketball teams in 2025-26
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Grant McCasland might have lost Darrion Williams, a talented forward who nearly helped beat Florida in the Elite Eight. But according to those who’ve watched the Red Raiders practice, LeJuan Watts — the versatile 6-foot-6 transfer from Washington — could fill the void created by Williams’ departure. Combine Watts with the return of preseason All-American JT Toppin and rising star Christian Anderson, and 30 wins doesn’t seem far-fetched for a crew that had 28 victories last season.