March Madness: Red Raiders seeded 5th in NCAA Tournament

The 5th seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders are heading back to the NCAA Tournament where it will play No. 12 Akron at 11:40 a.m. (CST) on Friday in a Midwest Region First Round game at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida. The Tech-Akron winner will advance to the Second Round to play either No. 4 Alabama or No. 13 Hofstra on Sunday.

"It's an expectation here that we are playing in the NCAA Tournament," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "Not only to play in it, but to win and make a run. These 5-12 games are always dangerous, any way you look at it. I think Akron is a really strong team. We can't worry about anything besides getting better over these next few days as a group. That's been my challenge for us all season. You have to keep getting better to give yourself the best chance to win. This NCAA Tournament is always great and the moment you think you understand the path is the moment you do this the wrong way. We're all in on preparing for Akron and figuring out a way to win that first one."

The Midwest Region is topped by No. 1 seed Michigan along with No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Virginia, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Tech, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 7 Kentucky, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 Saint Louis, No. 10 Santa Clara, No. 12 Akron, No. 14 Wright State, No. 15 Tennessee State. The Midwest Region also includes two First Four matchups with UMBC and Howard playing each other and Miami and SMU matching up. This will be the first meeting all-time between Tech and Akron. The Zips come into the NCAA Tournament with a 29-5 overall record and were 17-1 in Mid-American Conference play. Akron won the MAC Tournament, running off wins over Buffalo, Kent State and Toledo to earn the automatic bid. The Zips are on a 10-game winning streak following their 79-76 win over Toledo on Saturday in the conference title game.   

The Red Raiders (22-10) are making their third straight NCAA Tournament and 22nd appearance in program history, including advancing to the program's third Elite Eight last season. As a program, Tech has made the tournament in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026 over the past 10 years with 14-7 record during that span. Grant McCasland has led the program to the tournament in each of his first three seasons, including last season when the team ran off wins over UNC Wilmington, Drake and Arkansas before falling to Florida (2025 National Champion) in the Elite Eight. Last season, Tech matched a program record with a No. 3 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament has experienced recent success by advancing to the Elite Eight (2018), NCAA Final (2019), Sweet 16 (2022) and Elite Eight (2025). 

Nationally ranked throughout the season for the first time in program history, Tech was ranked No. 10 in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll for its highest preseason ranking in program history and is currently ranked No. 16. The Red Raiders are now 4-3 against top 10 opponents following a loss to No. 7 Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City and own a 3-1 record against top 5 opponents throughout the season. Tech has a neutral court win over then-No. 3/now-No. 1 Duke at Madison Square Garden, a home win over then-No. 6 Houston and road victories over then-No. 1 Arizona and then-No. 4 Iowa State. The team started the season 0-2 against top 10 teams with a loss against then-No. 1 Purdue in the Bahamas and taking a loss at then-No. 7 Houston in the first matchup against the Cougars before running off the most top 10 wins in program history. Along with being in the AP Top 25, the Red Raiders enter the NCAA Tournament at No. 19 in the NCAA NET and No. 20 in the Kenpom ratings.

Christian Anderson and JT Toppin were both selected to the All-Big 12 First Team while Donovan Atwell earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and Big 12 All-Newcomer Team honors. Toppin and Anderson are the only teammates in the nation to both be on the Wooden Award Ballot and were both selected as The Sporting News All-America. Additional All-America selections will come from the Associated Press, NABC and USBWA next week. The Red Raiders have played the last six games without Toppin who suffered a season-ending injury on February 17 at Arizona State. At the time of his injury, Toppin was leading the nation with 234 made field goals and was in the top 10 nationally in scoring (21.8), rebounding (10.8) and double-doubles (16). Anderson leads the Big 12 and is fourth nationally with 7.6 assists per game and is averaging 18.9 points per game. A sophomore point guard, Anderson has recorded eight double-doubles this season and has already established a new program single-season record with 236 assists this season while also making 105 3-pointers - breaking the previous school single-season record. Atwell now owns that 3-point record and goes into the NCAA Tournament having made 124 3-pointers and by shooting 45.4% from beyond the arc. Atwell is second on the team with 13.5 points per game while LeJuan Watts is adding 11.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and freshman Jaylen Petty is providing 9.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Atwell and Anderson have combined for 229 made 3-pointers this season – the most for a pair of teammates in the nation.

McCasland will be coaching in his 104th game as Tech's head coach and enters the 2026 NCAA Tournament with a 284-119 record in his NCAA career, including his Texas Tech records of 73-30 overall (103 games – 70.9 win%), 38-18 in Big 12 games, 44-7 at home, 23-0 in non-conference home games, 17-13 in true road and 12-10 in neutral-court games. As an NCAA head coach, McCasland has now led four teams to the NCAA Tournament and has a 4-3 record, including winning three games last season to reach the Elite Eight and taking North Texas to the second round after a 78-69 overtime win over Purdue to open the 2021 NCAA Tournament. He also has NCAA Tournament experience as an assistant coach at Baylor where he was a part of five tournament appearances, including reaching the 2012 Elite Eight and 2014 Sweet 16.