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Don't be shocked if Texas Tech basketball isn't invited back to Austin soon | Giese
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- Don't be shocked if Texas Tech basketball isn't invited back to Austin soon | Giese
AUSTIN — Press conferences can be a bit of a minefield for everyone involved, and not just the coaches and players.
Following the team's 78-67 win over 20th-ranked Texas in the Moody Center on Saturday night, Texas Tech basketball coach Grant McCasland was asked by one member of the UT media cohort — well, told more than asked — to sum up the night.
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It caused at least two eyebrows — mine — to raise up a bit to make sure I heard the question correctly.
"Coach, your first year at Tech, but you've been coaching in Texas for a while," the media member begins. "Put in perspective how big a win this is to come down here where the Red Raiders haven't won that often. I mean, the celebration kind of spoke to how big it was for the guys. What does it mean for you as far as where you're at in the program?"
More: Victory over No. 20 Texas a sign of Texas Tech basketball's growth under Grant McCasland
On its face, it's a fair question, though there was a classic mistake made here. The phrase "where the Red Raiders haven't won that often" is in itself historically true, I suppose.
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It also ignores the last six years of this rivalry, which has been incredibly one-sided — and not in favor of the Longhorns.
Texas Tech guard Chance McMillian (0) and forward Warren Washington (22) react after McMillian dunked during the Big 12 basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, at Moody Center in Austin.
Five of the last six times Texas Tech has traveled to Austin for a Big 12 game, the Red Raiders have been the victors. Overall, Tech has won 11 of the last 16 meetings. Saturday's game wasn't always comfortable, but it was a thorough victory for the visitors, just as it had been for the better part of a decade.
McCasland, as is his nature, didn't take the bait of making it seem like beating Texas was this grand achievement. He said the team's goal is to win the Big 12 championship, not just knock off the Longhorns.
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While important, and his first signature win as the leader of the Red Raiders, the team has celebrated wins on a similar level on several occasions this year — though those didn't involve Tech's locker room being feet away from the press conference room.
The future of the Texas Tech-Texas rivalry hangs in the balance in every sport. Don Williams did an outstanding job documenting why keeping the rivalry alive on the football field is important for the program. Other sports will also have to make decisions on the matter in the near future.
More: Balanced attack gives Texas Tech basketball key win over No. 20 Texas: 3 takeaways
Both McCasland and Texas coach Rodney Terry said during Big 12 media days in October that they would have to wait and see how their respective conference schedules take shape before engaging on meaningful discussions for future games. It's a fair point, and for basketball, those games could be scheduled as late as October.
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There's no real rush.
But based on Tech's recent success against the Longhorns on the hardwood, it wouldn't be too much of a shock to see McCasland's first trip to Austin as the Texas Tech coach be his last — at least for quite a while.
Those covering Texas don't seem too concerned about it, either. Probably because they don't realize which team has actually owned the series in recent years. Heck, many had to bring football into the conversation to flip the narrative before the press conference began. Yes, they're still irked by Joey McGuire's "Everything runs through Lubbock" line.
If it was Texas Tech's last trip to Austin for the foreseeable future, it was a good way to go out. The next challenge is keeping that record lopsided when the Longhorns make their last trip to Lubbock on Feb. 27.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Don't be shocked if Texas Tech basketball isn't invited back to Austin soon
