The Texas Tech basketball team is ranked in this week's top 25, but the Red Raiders have dropped in the latest poll. That was to be expected after coach Grant McCasland's team lost 2-0 to TCU and Cincinnati.
The Red Raiders are ranked 23rd in this week's AP poll. That's eight free falls from where he stopped last week.
Tech is one of six Big 12 teams eligible for voting this week. This is a decrease of two teams as TCU and Oklahoma fell out of the rankings.
Kansas ranks fourth in the conference, its highest ranking, behind No. 1 UCONN, No. 2 Purdue and No. 3 North Carolina.
Houston is No. 4, Baylor is No. 13 and Iowa State is No. 14. Another team ranked in the Big 12 is BYU at No. 21.
This week, the Red Raiders will have to fight to maintain their ranking. Facing Baylor in Waco on Tuesday will be a tough task considering Tech has won just one of the last eight road games in the series.
Then, a feisty UCF team comes to Lubbock on Saturday. Beating the Knights, who are 13-8 overall and 4-5 in conference play, won't jump the Red Raiders up the standings, but it's an important win considering the value of each home game in the Big 12. Dew. It's very difficult to win a match.
Tech has a home game against Kansas State and a road game against Iowa State next week, so the road to the Big 12 won't be easy anytime soon. In other words, maintaining the rankings is not a given for the Red Raiders.
Of course, February rank is not as important as March rank, and even more important is April rank. Yet, just as Red Raider fans were getting used to seeing a number next to the Red Raiders' name, the Big 12 began attacking another good team. Now, it's time to see if Texas Tech can break out of its slight slump and start climbing up the rankings again.
