Texas Tech To Play A School-Record 20 Home Games This Season
By: Trenten Hilburn
Updated: September 26, 2012
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech will host a school-record
20 home games during the 2012-13 season, announced school officials on Wednesday.
The
previous record for most home games in a season is 18, which occurred
three times during the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. The
Red Raiders are 148-60 (71.2 percent) since beginning play in the United
Spirit Arena in 1999.
The 11-game non-conference schedule is highlighted by marquee games against Arizona, Alabama and Arizona State.
Texas
Tech kicks off the 2012-13 season with an exhibition game against
Texas-Permian Basin on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at the United Spirit
Arena. Admission is free and open to the public.
The
Red Raiders will open the season on Friday, Nov. 9 against Prairie View
A&M at 8 p.m. at the United Spirit Arena. Texas Tech is 12-1
in home openers since beginning play in the United Spirit Arena. The Red
Raiders are 5-0 all-time against Prairie View A&M, but have not
played the Panthers since the season opener during the 2000-01 season.
Following
the home opener, the Red Raiders will face Nebraska-Omaha (Nov. 14),
Grambling State (Nov. 20) and Jackson State (Nov. 26). Texas
Tech will be facing Nebraska-Omaha and Jackson State for the first time,
while the men of the South Plains will face Grambling State for the
second consecutive year.
On
Saturday, Dec. 1, the Red Raiders will host the Arizona Wildcats. The
meeting will mark the first time the two teams have met since 1995,
when Texas Tech played Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Tucson. The
last time Arizona played in Lubbock was on Jan. 3, 1975, when the
Wildcats pulled off a 62-61 overtime win over the Red Raiders. Texas
Tech leads the all-time series with the former Border
Conference foe, 28-21.
Texas
Tech will then host Northern Kentucky (Dec. 4) and McNeese State (Dec.
16) before hosting back-to-back games against Alabama (Dec.
19) and Arizona State (Dec. 22). While this will be the first meeting
with Northern Kentucky, it will mark McNeese State's third appearance in
Lubbock. It is the seventh meeting with Alabama, but the first since
1984, when the Red Raiders faced the Tide in
Tokyo, Japan at the Suntory Ball Classic. Texas Tech is hosting Arizona
State for the first time since 1989 and holds the series advantage over
the Sun Devils, 22-19.
The
Red Raiders will close out the non-conference portion of the schedule
when it hosts North Carolina A&T on Dec. 28 and Florida A&M on
Dec. 31. It is the first-ever meeting between Texas Tech and the two
schools.
The
Big 12 Conference portion of the schedule will begin on Jan. 5, when
Texas Tech will leave the confines of the United Spirit Arena for
the first time as they travel to Fort Worth to face new conference mate
TCU. The Red Raiders lead the all-time series 72-47 with the Horned
Frogs.
This
is the second consecutive season the Big 12 Conference will feature an
18-game, round-robin format consisting of both home and away
contests against the other nine league schools.
After
renewing an old conference rivalry with the Horned Frogs, the Red
Raiders host - Baylor (Jan. 8) and national finalist Kansas (Jan.
12) at United Spirit Arena. The Baylor game is the first of seven games
to be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks for the Red Raiders,
while the matchup with the Jayhawks is the first of nine games for the
Red Raiders on the Big 12 Network.
Last
season, the Red Raiders had a school-record 30 of 31 games televised
and appeared on ESPN platforms 10 times and the Big 12 Network
nine times. The seven league games on ESPN this season are the most in
Texas Tech history.
Currently,
17 of the 18 league games, including all nine home games, are slated
for broadcast on either an ESPN platform or the Big 12 Network.
These games can also be seen on WatchESPN.com.
The
Red Raiders close out the season with a pair of Monday road games on
ESPNU at Kansas State (Feb. 25) and at Kansas (March 4), before
returning to Lubbock to host Texas in the season finale on March 9.
The
season will conclude at the 2012 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball
Championship, held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. Two
first round matchups will be played on Wednesday, March 13, followed by
the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 14. Semifinals are scheduled for
Friday, March 15, with the championship on Saturday, March 16.
Fans
can get in on all of the action at United Spirit Arena by taking
advantage of a variety of season ticket packages. Season tickets are
priced at $275 for the men and $175 for the women.
To purchase your season tickets for the 2012-13 men's and women's basketball seasons, please log on to www.texastech.com
or contact the athletics ticket office at (806) 742-4412
or toll free at 888-GO-BIG12.
