5 Schools Texas Tech Baseball Should be Rooting for This Weekend
We made it. The final regular-season weekend. After a season that was cut short before Big 12 play, this somehow feels like a victory in and of itself. Taking the COVID aspect away, it is still impressive that this Texas Tech baseball team is in the position it is in heading into the final Big 12 series. They lost two premier arms prior to the season starting, another while they were getting into the meat of the schedule, and lost the Preseason Big 12 player of the year as well. No big deal.
Ranked 5th in the country and 7th in the RPI the Red Raiders are still in a position for a top-eight national seed which would give them the ability to host a Super Regional if they win a regional. Even with that resume, the latest D1 Baseball field of 64 projection has Texas Tech on the outside looking in with a 9 seed. If that tournament was set today Texas Tech would host Old Dominion, Georgia, and Wright State in a Regional in Lubbock with the opportunity to travel to Starkville, Mississippi for a Super Regional if they advanced.
Side note, Texas Tech has never made it to Omaha without hosting a Super Regional. In the first-ever trip to Omaha for the Red Raiders, they traveled to Miami for the Regional but returned home for the Super Regional because some other teams had lost. In every subsequent trip to Omaha, the Red Raiders have earned a national seed and the road to Omaha has been paved through Lubbock, Texas.
It's not impossible to get to Omaha without hosting a Super, but Texas Tech is a much better team in Lubbock. It might be a little disingenuous to say that Texas Tech has never advanced to Omaha without hosting a Super Regional because they've never participated in a Super Regional outside of Lubbock, so it's not like they are 0-for, they've never had a chance to win one.
Maybe, but I bet Coach Tadlock would rather have his name in the hat to host if given the chance. The good news is that I think Texas Tech has the resume to be a top 8 seed if they can sweep Kansas this weekend. If they win two out of three, it's still possible, but the Red Raiders might need a little help.
Looking at the rest of the potential National Seeds, here are five teams that would help Texas Tech if they lost this weekend. By that I mean, teams around Texas Tech in the RPI, standings, and projections that could potentially get a top eight seed over the Red Raiders.