Who: Texas Tech (22-9, 11-7), BYU (23-9, 10-8)
where: T-Mobile Center (19,000), Kansas City, Missouri
when: Thursday, March 14th, 11:30pm (Central Time)
tv set: ESPN2
Records for 2023: Texas Tech (16-16, 5-13), BYU (19-15, 7-9)
series: BYU leads 3-2
Last meeting: Texas Tech 85, BYU 78, January 20, 2024
coach: Texas Tech University, grant mccasland (178-86); BYU, Mark Pope (187-106)
For the power conference teams safely in the NCAA Tournament field of 68, conference tournament play will depend on how best they manage their preparation for the Big Dance. Winning games is secondary unless important tournament seeding is at stake. More important is health and energy. Every coach wants to make sure their team is as healthy and well-rested as possible for the tournament. If that means a one-shot in the conference tournament, so be it.
All of these dynamics could impact the Texas Tech vs. BYU game. The Red Raiders will be key to the tournament. All bracketological projections include them as his 6-8 seeds. The outcome of the BYU game is unlikely to change Texas Tech's seeding. However, if they win their opening match, they will almost certainly face the No. 1 seed in the round of 32, so no one is happy about being the No. 8 seed. As a result, the Texas Tech head coach said: grant mccasland One might speculate that the team should do everything in its power to beat the Cougars to avoid the possibility of landing on the eight-line.
In that case, warren washington, Texas Tech's injured forward could be called to duty. And in any case, such a course of action might be wise, since the conference tournament is less likely to get him back into the flow than the Big Dance. In other words, it's much better for Washington to disrupt the team's rhythm by losing to BYU than to do it in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This argues in favor of a matchup between Washington and the Cougars.
On the other hand, if there's any chance that Washington will relapse with his foot injury, sitting him for the BYU game might be the best bet. This is why guys like McCasland make so much money.
As for the Cougars, they have little to gain or lose against Texas Tech, and they don't have any major health issues. Their logical course of action would be to try their best to defeat Red's Raiders, let the chips fall where they may, and calmly accept any outcome. They want to win this game because they are competitors, but they won't be down if they lose.
The Cougars are 9-5 since losing to Texas Tech in January. While they were virtually unbeatable domestically, they were significantly inferior outside of Utah. With the notable exception of beating Kansas State in Lawrence, they lost at Oklahoma State by 16 points, at Oklahoma State by 10 points, at Kansas State by 10 points, and at Iowa State by five points. BYU won't face a hostile crowd against the Red Raiders in Kansas City, but it won't get the same boost it's used to in Provo either. That factor could tip the game in Texas Tech's favor.
