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With the season set to start so soon, expect to see double-posts in multiple days in order to get all of the position previews and team previews posted. Will there be errors? Yes, most likely, but I was hustling this weekend to complete these previews. I just published the Oklahoma State preview.
On the Hardwood
CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter and Cameron Salerno grade the best 2022 5-for-5 players and Darrion Williams gets a mention:
Instant analysis: We all know how this is going to go because we’ve seen it work at such a high level. Darrion Williams became the best version of himself in Lubbock, helping Texas Tech make the Elite Eight in 2025, and that’s the expectation in his reunion. The Red Raiders have an extremely potent offensive ceiling with Williams in the mix. His ability to mismatch hunt, draw two defenders and spray it to snipers like Cruz Davis, DaKari Spear or Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn should give Texas Tech some easy buttons to press offensively while All-American big man JT Toppin heals up from a torn ACL.
But there were also times last year at NC State where Williams looked lethargic and disinterested. That won’t fly for McCasland, whose secret sauce may be how he draws out a different level of competitive fire from his club. You will compete, or you won’t play. Williams looks poised to be a 15-point, five-rebound, three-assist guy for a Texas Tech team that will be among the Big 12’s best once March rolls around. Grade: A+ — Isaac Trotter
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Texas Tech as a No. 5 seed.
On the Gridiron
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has preseason power ratings and has Texas Tech at No. 9 with BYU at No. 6:
After former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby ended his legal fight to regain his eligibility, the Red Raiders’ offense is in the hands of sophomore Will Hammond, who is coming back from a torn ACL he sustained in October. Hammond has been wearing a knee brace in preseason camp and has looked good. Sorsby was supposed to make the Red Raiders more explosive. Can Hammond hold up and do the job?
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams on Texas Tech punter Will Karoll’s path to Texas Tech:
When Will Karoll was 18 years old, he moved from a suburb of Sydney, Australia’s second-largest city, to Melbourne, its largest. Over the next 18 months, he pulled kegs at a bar, cut meats at a butcher shop and sold wine — all ways of supporting himself while he pursued his real goal: to develop punting skills good enough to take him places.
SI’s Pat Forde ranks all 68 Power 4 quarterbacks and ranks Will Hammond at No. 36:
So … did anything notable happen in Lubbock this offseason? If you weren’t following the Sorsby saga closely, you might have missed that Hammond, who started two games in place of an injured Behren Morton in 2025, stayed on for the Red Raiders and now finds himself as the QB1. The sample size is small, but he already delivered in a major way at Utah last September (13 for 16, 169 yards, two touchdowns and 61 rushing yards), so he’s no stranger to big games. He also started Tech’s only regular-season loss at Arizona State, where he completed 22 passes for just 167 yards. Quarterback play kept the Red Raiders from making a deeper playoff run last and though he may not be their first option, Hammond has at least shown the possibility of bringing more to the table.
Highlights from scrimmage #2 under the lights: