Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Projected As No. 4 Seed By DI Men's Basketball Committee
February 13, 2021 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK, Texas – As March nears, anticipation builds for Texas Tech which has established its prominence in the national college basketball landscape. The DI Men's Basketball Committee announced its top-16 on Saturday, projecting the Red Raiders as a No. 4 seed in the tournament and overall at No. 14.
"We're working to get into that tournament four straight years," said Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard who has led the Red Raiders to an 8-2 NCAA Tournament record. "We're in the fight. The credit goes to our players. I think there are a lot of stories in college basketball, I think we're worthy of the story that we're building a consistent program. It's always been our goal and it's right here for us again."
The Red Raiders advanced to the 2018 Elite 8, the 2019 National Championship Final and were positioned to make a program-record third straight NCAA Tournament last season before the season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. Texas Tech is currently ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25, No. 8 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 15 in the NCAA NET Rankings.
Tech is 14-6 overall this season going into a week where it will play at TCU on Monday in Fort Worth, host the Horned Frogs on Wednesday in Lubbock and then play at Kansas on Saturday.
Selection Sunday is March 14. After last year's cancellation, the 2021 tournament will be the 10th with a 68-team field and will begin with the First Four Thursday, March 18 in Bloomington and West Lafayette. Those two cities will join Indianapolis as hosts of first-round games March 19-20. Second-round games take place March 21-22, while the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be played March 27-30, and the Final Four will be played April 3 and 5. All games after the first round will be played in Indianapolis.
From NCAA.com
The Division I Men's Basketball Committee selected and seeded the top 16 teams, through games of February 12, as part of the Bracket Preview Show on CBS. By a slim margin, Gonzaga was dubbed the overall No. 1 seed, thanks in part to impressive non-conference wins over the likes of Virginia, Iowa, West Virginia and Kansas.
"To no one's surprise, these two teams are considered the best of the best," said Mitch Barnhart, the Director of Athletics at the University of Kentucky and chair of the committee. "Gonzaga and Baylor have been dominant teams to this point, and while there's no reason to think that won't continue, the beauty of college basketball is that anything can happen on a given night."
A pair of Big Ten teams also earned No. 1 seeds in the committee's fifth annual sneak peek at the seeding of the top teams. Michigan, which stands at 13-1 but has not played since January 22, was voted as the overall No. 3 team, while Ohio State, which has won eight of its past nine games to get to 16-4 thus far this season, was the last of the No. 1 seeds. The rivals meet in Columbus February 21.
Another Big Ten team, Illinois, was voted as the overall No. 5 seed, edging out a trio of conference leaders who also ended up as No. 2 seeds. Big East leader Villanova, SEC frontrunner Alabama and American Athletic Conference leader Houston fell sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, on the seed list. Defending national champion and current ACC leader Virginia heads the list of No. 3 seeds, joining West Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The final quartet of teams on the committee's list were Iowa, Texas Tech, Texas and Missouri.
While the committee indicated last month that it would use the S-Curve to seed the field, bracketing principles prevented that from fully happening. Rules that require the committee to separate the top four teams from the same conference on the top four lines of the bracket resulted in changes, which included Region 1 consisting of Gonzaga, Houston, Oklahoma and Iowa; Region 2 including Baylor, Illinois, Tennessee and Texas; Region 3 having Michigan, Alabama, Virginia and Texas Tech; and Region 4 consisting of Ohio St., Villanova, West Virginia and Missouri.
The committee is going to continue possible options for renaming the four regions.
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ESPN Bracketology
ESPN Bracketology has Texas Tech as a No. 3 seed in the tournament. The 68-team bracket projection has the Red Raiders in Region 1 and facing No. 14 Siena in the opening round. In its 16-team bracket, Tech's third seed has them facing Houston which is a two-seed in the same region as No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 4 Iowa. Gonzaga is ESPN's top overall seed while Baylor, Ohio State and Michigan are also top seeds.
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SI Predictions
Sports Illustrated also posted a story this week with its top-8 picks to win a national championship and listed the Red Raiders as a "Notable Omission". Andy Katz has the Red Raiders as a fifth seed in his March Madness Predictions.
"We're working to get into that tournament four straight years," said Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard who has led the Red Raiders to an 8-2 NCAA Tournament record. "We're in the fight. The credit goes to our players. I think there are a lot of stories in college basketball, I think we're worthy of the story that we're building a consistent program. It's always been our goal and it's right here for us again."
The Red Raiders advanced to the 2018 Elite 8, the 2019 National Championship Final and were positioned to make a program-record third straight NCAA Tournament last season before the season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. Texas Tech is currently ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25, No. 8 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 15 in the NCAA NET Rankings.
Tech is 14-6 overall this season going into a week where it will play at TCU on Monday in Fort Worth, host the Horned Frogs on Wednesday in Lubbock and then play at Kansas on Saturday.
Selection Sunday is March 14. After last year's cancellation, the 2021 tournament will be the 10th with a 68-team field and will begin with the First Four Thursday, March 18 in Bloomington and West Lafayette. Those two cities will join Indianapolis as hosts of first-round games March 19-20. Second-round games take place March 21-22, while the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be played March 27-30, and the Final Four will be played April 3 and 5. All games after the first round will be played in Indianapolis.
From NCAA.com
The Division I Men's Basketball Committee selected and seeded the top 16 teams, through games of February 12, as part of the Bracket Preview Show on CBS. By a slim margin, Gonzaga was dubbed the overall No. 1 seed, thanks in part to impressive non-conference wins over the likes of Virginia, Iowa, West Virginia and Kansas.
"To no one's surprise, these two teams are considered the best of the best," said Mitch Barnhart, the Director of Athletics at the University of Kentucky and chair of the committee. "Gonzaga and Baylor have been dominant teams to this point, and while there's no reason to think that won't continue, the beauty of college basketball is that anything can happen on a given night."
A pair of Big Ten teams also earned No. 1 seeds in the committee's fifth annual sneak peek at the seeding of the top teams. Michigan, which stands at 13-1 but has not played since January 22, was voted as the overall No. 3 team, while Ohio State, which has won eight of its past nine games to get to 16-4 thus far this season, was the last of the No. 1 seeds. The rivals meet in Columbus February 21.
Another Big Ten team, Illinois, was voted as the overall No. 5 seed, edging out a trio of conference leaders who also ended up as No. 2 seeds. Big East leader Villanova, SEC frontrunner Alabama and American Athletic Conference leader Houston fell sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, on the seed list. Defending national champion and current ACC leader Virginia heads the list of No. 3 seeds, joining West Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The final quartet of teams on the committee's list were Iowa, Texas Tech, Texas and Missouri.
While the committee indicated last month that it would use the S-Curve to seed the field, bracketing principles prevented that from fully happening. Rules that require the committee to separate the top four teams from the same conference on the top four lines of the bracket resulted in changes, which included Region 1 consisting of Gonzaga, Houston, Oklahoma and Iowa; Region 2 including Baylor, Illinois, Tennessee and Texas; Region 3 having Michigan, Alabama, Virginia and Texas Tech; and Region 4 consisting of Ohio St., Villanova, West Virginia and Missouri.
The committee is going to continue possible options for renaming the four regions.
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ESPN Bracketology
ESPN Bracketology has Texas Tech as a No. 3 seed in the tournament. The 68-team bracket projection has the Red Raiders in Region 1 and facing No. 14 Siena in the opening round. In its 16-team bracket, Tech's third seed has them facing Houston which is a two-seed in the same region as No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 4 Iowa. Gonzaga is ESPN's top overall seed while Baylor, Ohio State and Michigan are also top seeds.
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SI Predictions
Sports Illustrated also posted a story this week with its top-8 picks to win a national championship and listed the Red Raiders as a "Notable Omission". Andy Katz has the Red Raiders as a fifth seed in his March Madness Predictions.
ÂHere to stay. ??#4To1 | #Consistency pic.twitter.com/b85o8hPdmP
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) February 11, 2021
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