Texas Tech

Texas Tech University and its hometown of Lubbock, Texas have an unusual and controversial place in American life.  Lubbock sits far out on on the western plains of Texas -- 532 miles northwest of Houston, and 349 miles west of Dallas.  It is known as the home of Buddy Holly and Natalie Maines (the lead singer for the Dixie Chicks), who famously trashed her hometown for its conservatism in the song "Lubbock or Leave It."

Maines's claim that her hometown is full of small-minded meanies may or may not have been fair, but within the world of the NCAA, TTU often appears to live up to the stereotype.  Texas Tech hired Bobby Knight when no one else would give him a job.  Texas Tech hired Billy Gillespie to coach its men's basketball team despite the rumors that he had abused players at the University of Kentucky -- and soon faced charges that Gillespie had continued the practice at TTU.  Mike Leach, the most successful football coach Texas Tech ever had, was fired due to a controversy that arose over allegations that he had mistreated a player who had suffered concussion during practice.  In short, TTU often shows up in the type of stories that cause good-government types to roll their eyes.

But the folks at Texas Tech don't seem to mind.  Texas Tech didn't even exist until 1923, and wasn't allowed to join the Southwest Conference until 1956 -- allegedly after the good folk of Lubbock threatened to boycott the big stores in Dallas unless their Red Raiders were let into the SWC.  So Texas Tech has always been the scrappy underdog, and they revel in that role.  They've never had too much success -- they tend to turn up in bowls with names like the "Valero Alamo Bowl" and the "TicketCity Bowl", and they have an all-time record of 0-4 in the Cotton Bowl.  Their school spirit, however, cannot be denied.

They also have a pretty decent history in the UCFC.  The UCFC spent almost the entire 1930's down in Texas, and TTU first grabbed the title with a 6-0 win over SMU on October 1, 1932.  They defended the title 8 times -- beating schools like "New Mexico Highlands" and "Colorado Mines" -- before losing to Hardin-Simmons on November 24, 1932.  The next year, they regained the title with a win over Baylor, and kept it until September 22, 1934, when they lost it to Texas.  They didn't regain the UCFC until the next-to-last game of the 1991 season with a 31-24 win over Baylor.  On September 3, 1992, they lost the crown to Oklahoma by the score of 34-9.  They also held the crown for two weeks in 2008 (thanks to wins over Texas and Oklahoma State) before Oklahoma beat them again, this time 65-21.  Their all-time UCFC record is 15-12.