Texas Tech football 2024: 5 interesting Big 12 games
The Texas Tech football team learned nearly three months ago which Big 12 opponents it would play in 2024 and where. The conference office added the when on Tuesday with the release of the full schedule, dates included.
Here are five games with interesting story lines:
Sept. 28 vs. Cincinnati
Texas Tech's first two Big 12 games are home dates with new members, the conference opener coming the week before against Arizona State. Whereas the Sun Devils and the Red Raiders have met four times the past 25 years, Cincinnati's played Tech only once — a 10-10 tie in the 1968 season opener at Jones Stadium. Future Super Bowl hero Jim O'Brien scored all 10 points for the Bearcats.
Cincinnati took a precipitous drop to 3-9 in 2023 after Luke Fickell, 53-10 the previous five seasons, left to become coach at Wisconsin.
Oct. 5 at Arizona
One of the most intriguing newcomers to the Big 12, Arizona pulled off a five-win turnaround in 2023, going 10-3 and finishing 11th in the polls. Jedd Fisch, fourth in voting for The Associated Press coach of the year, jolted UA by jumping to Washington. The Wildcats so far have hung on to the pass-and-catch tandem of quarterback Noah Fifita and receiver Tetairoa McMillan, top players on the Alamo Bowl team that beat Oklahoma.
Nov. 9 vs. Colorado
Rolling into Lubbock for the first time will be the Deion Sanders' show. That was must-see TV in September when the Buffaloes won their first three games under their new coach, less so when they went 1-8 from then on and finished last in the Pac-12.
Deion and the Double T will be on the same field 37 years apart. Sanders was a Florida State cornerback when the Seminoles beat the Red Raiders in the 1987 season opener.
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Nov. 23 at Oklahoma State
Texas Tech missed Oklahoma State on the 2023 schedule. That means the Red Raiders missed a reunion with their old starting quarterback Alan Bowman. The NCAA recently granted Bowman a medical hardship waiver for a seventh year of eligibility.
Nov. 30 vs. West Virginia
Texas Tech fans can look forward to a big final week of the regular season: Thanksgiving on Thursday, a Texas Tech-Texas A&M basketball game at United Supermarkets Arena on Friday and the Red Raiders against the Mountaineers on Saturday.
WVU was the surprise team of the Big 12 in 2023, going 9-4 and winning a bowl.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football 2024: 5 interesting Big 12 games
