On the Hardwood

The Lady Raiders downed Washington State 82-51, led by Bailey Maupin and Snudda Collins who each scored 19. The Lady Raiders scored 19 fast break points to just 4 for Washington State and Texas Tech had 18, yes 18 steals, which were part of 24 turnovers for the Cougars. The Lady Raiders will be in Odessa to take on Abilene Christian on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the OC Sports Center.

On the Gridiron

Latest episode of The Brand:

Jacob Rodriguez received the Bednarik Award last night, which goes to the nation’s top defensive player.

With the addition of the Bednarik Award, Rodriguez is now the winner of the Butkus Award (nation’s top linebacker), the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (nation’s top defensive player), the Lombardi Award (nation’s top lineman or linebacker) and the Pony Express Award (nation’s top duo with David Bailey) this season alone. He is the third player in history to win the Butkus Award as well as the Nagurski Trophy and Bednarik Award in the same season, joining Miami’s Dan Morgan (2000) and Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o (2012). Rodriguez joins Te’o as the only players to also win the Lombardi Award.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly with his made-up awards for 2025 and this was a fun read and will tell you that it’s worth your time and there are a ton of Texas Tech references, including Romello Height winning the Journeyman of the Year, Jacob Rodriguez winning the Havoc King (with David Bailey coming in 3rd), and I really enjoyed the portion about best small offenses, which I find fun to find and watch (do I know how to party or what?).

Texas Tech made a late addition to the 2026 class when Michigan signee tight end Matt Ludwig (6-4/240) was able to get out of his signed letter of intent due to the coaching situation at Michigan and has signed with the good guys. Ludwig is a consensus 4-star player and a top 10 tight end in his class and from Billings, Montana.

Recruiting Profiles: On3 | 24/7 Sports | ESPN.