csf2007's Blog

The 2009 college football season is just around the corner, and while Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree will not see the field again in a Texas Tech uniform, there's no reason to panic in Lubbock. Mike Leach remains at the helm for the Red Raiders and with him a style of offense that not only puts up big numbers, but also wins a lot of games. With much talent returning on the offensive side of the ball, expect to see Texas Tech continue the road that got them to this point thus far, but as stated in one 2009 Texas tech football preview, the defense, more specifically the secondary, will likely be the weakness.

It's time to start thinking about the NFL again. yes, I know baseball season just started, but with the NFL Draft just a week away and Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree projected to be selected as high as the Top 5 picks, it's hard not to think about NFL football. And now that the 2009 NFL schedule has been released, we know who our favorite teams will be playing and when. The Cowboys, despite not making the playoffs in 2008, have the most primetime games in 2009 and the Cowboys schedule for 2009 seems to be a bit easier than in 2008 replacing the AFC North teams with the AFC West teams in 2009.

How the season will play out is anyone's guess, but all I know is that I am ready for some football!

We're just hours away from the tip-off of the 2009 Big 12 Tournament as 12 teams get set to fight for the automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament. In the first game to be played on Wednesday #8 seed Nebraska takes on #9 Baylor while #5 Texas faces #12 Colorado in game two. The 3rd game of the day features #7 Oklahoma State vs #10 Iowa State while we will wrap up Wednesday games with #6 Texas A&M vs #11 Texas Tech. All Wednesday 1st Round games will be televised on the Big 12 Network.

Thursday will again be a full day of games as #1 Kansas faces the Nebraska/Baylor winner on ESPN2 to start the action followed by #4 Kansas State vs the Texas/Colorado winner on the Big 12 Network. In the two night games #2 Oklahoma faces the OSU/ISU winner on the Big 12 Network with #3 Mizzou taking on the Texas A&M/Texas Tech winner in the nightcap on ESPN2.

Friday will feature the Big 12 Tournament semifinals with the Big 12 Championship Game to be played on Saturday evening at 5 pm ET on ESPN.

The prelude to march Madness has begun as NCAA basketball conference tournaments are underway and we already have 4 members of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. East Tennessee State, Morehead State, Radford all won their tournaments on Saturday and they will be joined by Ivy League regular season winner Cornell. Today, 2 more automatic qualifiers will run the 2009 Tournament total to 6 as the Missouri Valley Conference and America East Conference crown their champions as well.

WEC 39 took place Sunday night with Lubbock's own Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia facing off with Mike Brown, the current WEC Featherweight Champion. While Garcia looked cooler during his intro than the defending champ, he wasn't looking too good after the fight started. Brown floored Garcia with an overhand right and proceeded with the ground and pound before forcing the tapout via an arm triangle. The results of WEC 39 for Garcia are unclear as he definately will fall from being the top contender, and it seems former champ Urijah Faber may get a title shot and rematch with Brown, the man who took away his belt.

WEC 39 is almost here, and Lubbock's own Leonard Garcia is featured in the main event of the night. Garcia faces WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown in what will be Brown's first title defense after upsetting Urijah Faber in late 2008. The former UFC Lightweight comes off his destruction of Jens Pulver at WEC 36 in November and looks to take the WEC Featherweight belt home with him to Lubbock.

WEC 39 will be held on Sunday, March 1st @ 9 pm ET on Versus. The WEC 39 preview has been released for the event which will be held in Corpus Christi, Texas.

While Mixed Martial Arts may be overshadowed in Lubbock by other sports including football, basketball and much more, let's take a moment to recognize the World Extreme Cagefighting's Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia. Garcia (16-3 MMA) currently lives in Lubbock and trains here, as he prepares for his upcoming title fight. Garcia will face Mike Brown, the current WEC Featherweight belt holder. Brown (20-4 MMA) will face Garcia in his first title defense after knocking out WEC fan-favorite Urijah Faber at WEC 36 in November 2008.

While the winner will indeed have the belt and championship title, it is likely that the next major Featherweight bout will be with former champion Faber. That would not come before WEC 41 and would likely be held sometime in the early summer months of 2009.

On January 2nd the Texas Tech Red Raiders and head coach Mike Leach will take on the Ole Miss Rebels in the Cotton Bowl. The Cotton Bowl may mean even more this year than in years past after the Big 12 had a banner season and can lay some claim to the SEC's perennial title of the best conference in college football. The Big 12 South proved to be the country's best with three one-loss teams lead by Oklahoma at 12-1 followed by Texas Tech & Texas at 11-1.

Ole Miss finished their season 8-4 coming off a dismal 2007 season. Mississippi brought in former Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt to turn their program around in near-record time. While his former employer's team will be sitting at home watching the bowl season, Nutt's current team will be facing the high-octane offense of the Red Raiders.

The entire 2008 Cotton Bowl preview has been released. Best of luck to the Red Raiders!

Don't get me wrong, the Cotton Bowl is a great college bowl game. But is Texas Tech the most high-profile team in the nation to get screwed by the system or what? Ony two teams from a conference can go to BCS bowl games, and Oklahoma & Texas, the two big-name programs that the Red Raiders TIED for the Big 12 South title with, will be representing the Big 12 Conference in the BCS. Again, the Cotton Bowl is a nice bowl game and once that always has one of the Big 12's top teams annually, but when the difference in payout for the bowl games is from $17 milion in the BCS games to $3 million for the Cotton Bowl, we're talking about a pretty crappy bit of "luck." Follow that up up with Graham Harrell not even getting invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York this weekend, and you have once of the biggest cases of politics & big-school crap that you will ever find in college football.

Yes, it was a disappointing week after the loss to Oklahoma. Yes, the National Championship aspirations for Texas Tech, now #7 in the nation, are gone. But Texas Tech still has a real shot at a BCS bowl game and will earn a share of the Big 12 South title with a win Saturday over Baylor. Had the Red Raiders won @ OU I would not be surprised to hear Fathead announce their latest wall sticker was a life-sized Mike Leach cutout. But the loss brought the fans, players, coaches and all involved back to Earth, and now it is time to move on. How will the Red Raiders respond? Tune in on Saturday @ 3:30 ET as 10-1 Texas Tech hosts 4-7 Baylor in Lubbock.

One scenario makes things clear. The other complicates thingsgreatly. As #2 Texas Tech heads to Norman, Oklahoma to face the Sooners on Saturday night, the college football world takes notice. Texas Tech is having a record year jumping all the way to #2 in the nation after knocking off #23 Kansas, #1 Texas and #9 Oklahoma State in consecutive weeks. Now they face what may be their toughest test of the season, a match-up with the #5 Sooners. A win for the Red Raiders and they win the Big 12 South title and earn a trip to the Big 12 Football Championship Game to face #13 Missouri. On the other side, a win for Oklahoma muddies the national title picture.

Preview across the Internet do not paint a great picture for Texas Tech. Big 12 Fans has their Texas Tech @ Oklahoma preview up where they pick OU in a shootout. Meanwhile the Week 13 college football preview from The World of Bax also likes the Sooners with a few fewer points. One thing is for certain, a win forthe Red Raiders will likely vault a the record number of Texas Tech apparel & merchandise items that have been flying off the shelves.

The media made a big deal about Texas Tech's jump from #7 to #2 in the polls and the BCS standings this past week, and now Mike Leach's Red Raiders are ready to take on another test. The #9 Oklahoma State Cowboys come to Lubbock on Saturday night with a 8-1 record having lost only to then #1 Texas.

A week ago, then Kevin Lonnquist correctly predicted Texas Tech's upset of Texas. This week, the Big 12 Fans sports writer once again sides with the Red Raiders as he sees a win in his Texas Tech vs Oklahoma State preview.

Fans across the nation will once again have their eyes on Lubbock this Saturday night as once again, the Big 12 will provide another great college football matchup.

The Red Raiders took control with a 21-0 2nd quarter and rolled in Lawrence, Kansas today to a 63-21 victory over the #23 Jayhawks. Graham Harrell added a 5th TD pass in the 2nd half and finished 34-42 for 386 yards hitting Michael Crabtree & Edward Britton for 2 TD passes each.

We will find out tomorrow if the Red Raiders will move up in the BCS standings after the big win, but all focus in Lubbock needs to be on next weekend's matchup vs the Texas Longhorns.

It's halftime in Lawrence, Kansas, and the #8 Texas Tech Red Raiders seem to be in control with a 35-14 lead over #23 Kansas. The Jayhawks tied the score late in the 1st quarter at 14-14, but a 21-0 2nd quarter by TTU opened up the game giving the Red Raiders a 21 point halftime lead.

Graham Harrell has fantastic numbers in the 1st half completing 22 of 26 passes for 247 yards and 4 TD while Eric Morris has 2 receiving TDs and Michael Crabtree & Edward Britton each have added a TD a piece.

The second half is about set to begin, let's see if Texas Tech can win big and potentially move up in the college football Top 25 rankings.

As anyone who reads what i write knows, I like to scour the Web for good sources of sports content that pertains locally. My most recent find is from CUSA-fans.com where SMU football writer Rick Atkinson has his preview of SMU @ TTU coming this weekend. It seems Atkinson is realistic about his team's chances as he expects a Texas Tech 59-31 win, but notes SMU coach June Jones' fine record against BCS teams (7-11). We will see how it plays out on Saturday as #12 Texas Tech hosts the SMU Mustangs.