Texas Tech Ranked No. 8 Nationally in Final Polls

 

LUBBOCK, TX — Texas Tech men’s basketball capped one of its most successful seasons in program history by finishing No. 8 in both the AP Top 25 and Sports Coaches Poll, its highest final rankings of the season and a school-record sixth straight week inside the Top 10.

The Red Raiders (28-9) ended the 2024-25 campaign ranked No. 7 in the NCAA NET and No. 9 in KenPom after advancing to their third-ever Elite Eight. They finished second in the Big 12 standings with a 15-5 conference record and set program records for made 3-pointers (371) and Big 12 road wins (8). Texas Tech averaged 80.9 points per game, the sixth-highest scoring season in school history, and won 28 games — the third-most in its 100-year history.

Under second-year head coach Grant McCasland, Tech finished the season with a 51-20 overall record across the last two years.

Florida, the 2025 NCAA Champion, ended the year as the consensus No. 1. Fellow Big 12 programs Houston (No. 2), BYU (No. 13), Arizona (No. 15) and Iowa State (No. 17) also earned spots in the final rankings.

Sophomore forward JT Toppin led the Red Raiders with 18.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game, earning Big 12 Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and multiple All-America honors. Darrion Williams joined him on the All-Big 12 First Team, averaging 15.1 points and 5.5 rebounds.

Chance McMillian (14.2 ppg) earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors and finished the year tied for the team lead in made 3-pointers (71) with freshman Christian Anderson, who averaged 10.6 points per game and made the All-Big 12 Freshman Team.

Point guard Elijah Hawkins broke Texas Tech’s single-season assist record with 226, leading the Big 12 in total assists, assists per game (6.5), and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.28). As a team, Tech led the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.70) — good for seventh nationally — and was among the top three in the conference in scoring (80.9 ppg), 3-point shooting (36.7%), free-throw shooting (76.0%), and effective field goal percentage (54.7%).

Rankings Recap:

  • Finished No. 8 in final AP and Coaches Polls — highest of the season.

  • Spent a program-record six consecutive weeks in the AP Top 10.

  • Ranked in the AP Top 25 for a record eighth straight season.

  • Peaked as high as No. 9 in the AP and No. 10 in the Coaches Poll on Feb. 17.

  • Entered the Top 25 on Jan. 27 at No. 22 AP / No. 19 Coaches after beginning the year unranked.

  • Tech was picked 7th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll and had no preseason all-conference selections.

The Red Raiders went from unranked in the preseason to a consistent Top 10 team, making their deepest tournament run since the 2019 NCAA National Championship game appearance.

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