Welcome back to The Saturday Column With No Name. It just refused to name itself. Sometimes that happens with things. Like trucks and dogs. This week we’ll look a little at the Madness of March and peek ahead to April.
- Make no mistake. After seeing first hand for 35-year or so; the Elite 8 game in the NCAA Tournament is the hardest and most painful game for a team to lose. For the most part, you know you so close to a Final Four. Make a Final Four and it’s all gravy. In the Elite 8, everything is more painful with more What Ifs. The games are usually close and a team can sit back for years wondering how a few breaks might have gone your way. Losing in the Sweet 16 isn’t fun, but you aren’t minutes away from a Final Four…if you lose in the first a second round, a lot of times you we’re just happy to be in the tournament. Not always. I give you the 1998 Texas Tech Lady Raiders. That one still stings. But overall, watch the reactions of teams who lose Saturday and Sunday….crushed.
- With the advent of NIL and the Transfer Portal, the best of the best are better in college basketball than we’ve seen in years. We have a concentration of talent, for sure. It is not spreading out the way it has in football. It’s gone to the major Power 4 programs. That said, the teams right now are deeper, have better and more experienced talent than the last few decades. Guys that might have gone pro are staying around because the pay is as good or better and certainly better than G-League or Europe. How long with this last? Ask us next week or next month when the latest failed plans for “Saving College Sports” are unveiled. In the meantime, enjoy some college basketball that being played on a higher level for the first time in a long time.
- It’s never to early to plan you NFL Draft Parties. For the first time since Patrick Mahomes was entering the league, Texas Tech fans have a reason for huge interest in the first night of the NFL Draft on Thursday, April 23. There could be at least two Red Raiders selected on the first night. Might be more. Never know. Either way, Texas Tech fans may be hosting their own parties or flocking to your favorite watering holes to take in what is going to be one of the single best advertisements for Texas Tech Football. Ever. The recent Tech Pro Day was just that. Four NFL head coaches on campus, every teams with GMs and Scouts and assistant coaches checking out the players and the facilities. And Tech made sure every potential recruit saw all of it. From video to social media; Joey McGuire and staff we’re proving Lubbock can be a top-flight destination; not just to win games and bank NIL, but to get better, get coached, get seen and get drafted into the NFL. That’s the biggest sales pitch they can make and one Texas Tech hasn’t always been able to make. Things are changing. Tell me again how you don’t like the current state of college sports? I’m waiting.
Enjoy the day and we’ll see y’all in the morning with our 5 Things We Know On A Sunday Column. If you missed any Daily Broadcast, go back and check them out. A lot of fun and interesting discussions this past week in Raiderland. Thanks for being out there!
Hyatt
