Texas Tech is stepping into a spot Duke and Michigan left behind.
A December non-conference game at Madison Square Garden that was supposed to feature the Blue Devils and Wolverines has been reshuffled, and the Red Raiders are now the team filling the opening. According to Matt Norlander at CBS Sports, television concerns knocked Michigan out of the matchup.
MSG and New York City fall inside the Big Ten’s market, and the conference blocked the game from happening there. The sides then tried to move it to the Miami Marlins ballpark, but they couldn’t agree on the schedule.
That leaves Texas Tech with a marquee trip to New York City for a second straight season against Jon Scheyer’s Duke team. The Red Raiders already know what that stage can look like. Christian Anderson and LeJuan Watts combined for 37 points, and JT Toppin added 19, in Texas Tech’s win over Duke at MSG, handing the Blue Devils their first regular-season loss there.
For Grant McCasland, it’s another notable non-conference chance in what has already been a strong run in Lubbock. He enters his fourth season with the Red Raiders after bringing three straight NCAA Tournament appearances with him from North Texas in 2023.
The biggest boost for Texas Tech this season is Toppin’s return. The All-American confirmed earlier in the offseason that he was coming back after tearing his ACL in a February regular-season game against Arizona State.
Texas Tech was the No. 5 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, but its run ended in Tampa with a 90-65 loss to No. 4 Alabama in the second round.
Now the Red Raiders are headed back to the Garden, where they’ll get another shot at a Blue Blood program and another chance to make noise on one of college basketball’s biggest stages.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Football Just Entered A New Stadium Era
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The change also marks the first time in the stadiums 78-year history that it will not carry the Jones name, a notable shift for a place so closely linked to the programs past. The new look will be on display Sept. 5, when Texas Tech opens at home against Abilene Christian, and the partnership is expected to extend beyond the scoreboard with NIL opportunities for student-athletes folded into the broader arrangement. [Read more 🡒]
ESPN's Latest Big 12 Shift Could Change Houston's Football Routine
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For the Red Raiders, that broader shift matters because the Big 12 is expected to be part of the new Friday footprint in 2026, when the schedule may look a little less traditional than it has in years past. Texas Techs own calendar already includes a Friday game in Lubbock against Houston, and while the details of ESPNs new setup are still coming into focus, it is another sign the network wants to make Fridays feel like a bigger part of the college football week. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Just Reopened A Playoff Debate BYU Fans Hate
At SEC Media Days, Lane Kiffin used the spotlight to reopen one of college footballs most familiar arguments: how the College Football Playoff committee should compare teams that do not play the same kind of schedule. The LSU coach took aim at the SECs move to a nine-game conference slate and said the current setup makes it harder to judge teams fairly when records come from different leagues and different levels of weekly grind.
For Texas Tech fans, the debate lands in a familiar place because it always circles back to strength of schedule and the value of conference play. Kiffins comments also fit into a broader conversation about how schools schedule outside the league, including LSUs decision to cancel a future home-and-home with Arizona State, and they leave the same unresolved question hanging over the playoff race: what matters more when the committee starts sorting teams, the number in the loss column or the road a team took to get there? [Read more 🡒]