Texas Tech appeared in their first Final Four game Saturday night. Now, they are heading to their first national championship in school history.
Texas Tech has competed in the March Madness Tournament 15 times, and this is the only year they have made it past the Elite Eight into the Final Four. Their run started back in November during the preseason.
Texas Tech plays in the Big 12, and in many ways, this league prepared them for their historical run in the tournament this year. During their regular season, the Red Raiders played several teams that were in the tournament this year, such as Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma, the University of Kansas, and Iowa State. TTU went 6-4 against Big 12 tournament teams this season. The Red Raiders won the Big 12 and finished 27-6. This earned them the three seed in the West region.
In the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Raiders played 14-seeded Northern Kentucky. Tech breezed by the Norse, winning 72-57. The Red Raiders most recent game had been a loss to West Virginia in the Big 12 tournament, so beating Northern Kentucky was crucial to their campaign, as it restored their confidence and sent them to the second round.
In the second round, Texas played sixth-seeded Buffalo. They had another comfortable win, scoring 78 points to Buffalo’s 58.
The Sweet Sixteen is where the Red Raiders found their game as underdogs. They faced Michigan, the second seed in the West. Texas Tech held the Wolverines to 44 points in a brilliant defensive effort while they scored 63.
In the next matchup, the Elite Eight, Texas Tech took on top-seeded Gonzaga. The Red Raiders have been in this position several times throughout their history. They returned to the same place as last year when they lost to Villanova. The Bulldogs came out the half leading 37-35. But the Raiders turned it around in the second half, scoring 40 points and beating Gonzaga 75-69.
Their historical run continued past the Final Four after they took down No. 2 seed Michigan State on Saturday 61-51.
They will play against the No. 1 Virginia, tonight at 9:20 p.m. EST.
