Guns Up!

My former roommate Kriston Capps and I used to like to play the ESPN College Football game for Xbox. He would always play as Texas because he went to Texas. Harvard’s football team couldn’t really stand up against those guys, so instead I liked to play as Texas Tech to screw with him. Ever since, I’ve considered myself a Red Raider fan. What’s more, Michael Lewis’ excellent New York Times Magazine article about Tech’s unorthodox offense is really fascinating and makes me want them to succeed.

So naturally it was with great pleasure that I watched the Texas / Texas Tech game alongside Mr. Capps gleefully celebrating as the Red Raiders rode to victory. But he assured us that Oklahoma would prevail over Tech in their matchup, thus sending the Raiders back into the pack where they belong. But no! It seems href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/sports/ncaafootball/09tech.html?hp”>Tech won, meaning they’ll hold on to their number two ranking.

At any rate, one interesting aspect of Lewis’ article is the point that college football is a self-perpetuating oligarchy. Unlike in the pros where a bad season gives you access to good draft picks, in college the best recruits want to go to a good program. For Texas high schoolers that means Texas or Texas A&M with Tech left to clean up amongst the scraps. Thus even if Leach’s offensive methods really are superior, he’s still working at a recruiting disadvantage and still left behind in the competition. But a very strong season for Tech could change things, either causing other programs to take a closer look at his system, or else causing recruits around the state to look more kindly on the prospect of four years in Lubbock.