Red Raiders Enter March With Energy, Health Eyeing National Championship
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LUBBOCK, Texas — There's not another team in the entire country that has done more with less this season on a consistent basis than Texas Tech.
When coach Grant McCasland made the non-conference schedule, it was in an effort to challenge his team as national title contenders. Even in the face of adversity with star forward JT Toppin's injury, the Red Raiders are healthier now with role players coming along playing big minutes.
Replacing Toppin is no small task considering he was well on his way to Big 12 Player of the Year honors. McCasland is running the post by committee with three post players all returning from injury in late January and becoming immediate contributors when called upon.
Luke Bamgboye has provided a scoring lift in the post along with freshman center Marial Akuentok has provided key minutes to allow for breathers.
Reserve forward Jordan Mosely was playing less that eight minutes per game prior to Toppin's injury, but had his own coming out party during Tech's road upset of Iowa State Saturday. He scored 10 points, added eight rebounds, three blocks and one assist in 22 minutes of action.
At 22-7 overall, the Red Raiders defeated Duke in non-conference play despite dropping games against Arkansas, Illinois and Purdue in non-conference play. But it's been what the team has done since starting Big 12 play that has made McCasland's team as dark-horse candidates for a national title.
Texas Tech has the best wins in the COUNTRY.
— College Basketball Report (@CBKReport) February 28, 2026
#1 Duke (N)
#2 Arizona (A)
#4 Iowa State (A)
#5 Houston (H)
The Red Raiders have beaten four of the current Top 5 teams and have a 4-1 record vs Top 5 opponents 🤯 pic.twitter.com/wQonQlzsm9
“When you start the season, and I think people are seeing it now, we felt like we made this schedule because we felt like we did have one of the best teams in the country," McCasland said Monday. "That includes Josiah (Moseley), Luke [Bamgboye], Marial [Akuentok] being in the mix with JT and Christian [Anderson] and those guys that everybody sees play on a nightly basis.
"If you have those guys from the beginning you could see where this schedule would’ve been perfect for what we were doing. What I’ll say about this group, and this time of year, a lot of teams are finding ways to be done. I hate to say it, but they’re just tired. They’ve been around the same guys. And I think our team is really practicing with the most energy that I’ve felt all season long. And that’s a lot of fun and says a lot about where our team is and where we can grow and continue to get better.”
McCasland did not assemble this schedule to flirt with relevance. He built it because he believed Texas Tech had a roster capable of standing toe to toe with anyone in the country.
He desperately needed Anderson to take on a larger leadership role of his team over the past three games to elevate everyone around him. Over the previous three games he's averaging 22 points per game, but has been completely unselfish by dishing out eight assists and pulling down six rebounds in Toppin's absence.
McCasland challenged his guards to attack the boards to help in the post with Toppin's absence and to this point they have responded by doing so. When players are willing to do it shows team morale is high and how much the Red Raiders respect and love their coach.
Getting everyone healthy at the right time, stretching the rotation from roughly six in early January as many as eight in late February is advantageous for the Red Raiders. McCasland holds one man responsible for Texas Tech being healthy at the right time and he is veteran athletic trainer Mike Neal.
“The first conversation just about everyday is with Mike Neal our trainer," McCasland said. "It’s been a regular occurrence this year. And he did say ‘man we’re in a good spot right now.’ Obviously in some ways we’re not in a great spot because we don’t have JT.
"That’s the truth of this. But considering who we have available, everybody is moving in a great direction and we don’t have any reason to think that we can take a step back. This feels like everybody is really healthy.”
Texas Tech built its schedule like a contender in October. It weathered injuries like a contender in January.
Now, with energy high and the rotation finally intact, the Red Raiders are entering March looking like the team McCasland believed he had all along.
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Jacob is a contributor to Texas Tech and a seasoned journalist with over eight years of covering college football on digital platforms. He also contributes to Arkansas On SI and has previous writing experience at Saturday Down South and SB Nation. He is a graduate of Southern Arkansas University.
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