Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders ranked No. 15 in AP Top 25
November 17, 2025 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK – Texas Tech is in the Associated Press Men's College Basketball Top 25 for the 11th straight poll, coming in at No. 15 in this week's rankings. The Red Raiders (3-1) were at No. 10 in the preseason rankings for the program's best slot entering a season and were at 11 last week. A loss at Illinois last Tuesday and a win against Milwaukee on Friday moves the team back four spots going into a week where it will play in the Baha Mar Championship on Thursday and Friday in the Bahamas.
The No. 15 Red Raiders will open against Wake Forest at 7:30 p.m. (CST) on Thursday at the Baha Mar Championship before playing either No. 1 Purdue or Memphis on Friday. Both games will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
The Boilermakers (4-0) were the AP Preseason Poll's No. 1-ranked team but fell back to No. 2 after the first week. The regained top billing this week after a road win at Alabama to swap places with No. 2 Houston for the second straight week. The top five in this week's poll is No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Houston, No. 3 UConn, No. 4 Arizona and No. 5 Duke. The Big 12 is also represented by No. 9 BYU, No. 16 Iowa State and No. 24 Kansas. The Fighting Illini jumped up to No. 8 in the national rankings from No. 14 after their win over the Red Raiders last week in Champaign. Tech's potential matchup against No. 1 Purdue would be the first time the program has played a No. 1-ranked opponent since Houston in the 2024 Big 12 Championship semifinals. As a program, Tech has two wins over No. 1 ranked teams, the first by knocking off Louisville on December 10, 2019 in the Jimmy V Classic in New York and then against Baylor on January 11, 2022 in Waco.
Christian Anderson leads the nation with 36 total assists and is second nationally with 9.0 assists per game while JT Toppin tops the Big 12 and is seventh nationally with 24.3 points per game. Toppin is also second in the Big 12 and 15th nationally with 11.7 rebounds per game, including going for 35 points and 11 rebounds at Illinois last Tuesday. Anderson is coming off a game against Milwaukee where he led the team with 18 points and seven assists while Donovan Atwell went 5-for-9 on 3-pointers and is leading the Big 12 and is ninth nationally with 4.5 made 3-pointers per game. Atwell is shooting 48.6 percent on 3-pointers with a conference-leading 18 made through four games while LeJuan Watts is averaging 14.0 points and 6.3 rebounds after coming up one rebound shy of his first double-double of the season with 10 points and nine rebounds against Milwaukee.
Tech has made 12 or more 3-pointers in three of the first four games of the season, including setting a new program record with 17 in the season opener against Lindenwood and knocking down 13 in its last game against Milwaukee. The Red Raiders travel to the Bahamas shooting 48-for-126 (38.1 percent) as a team and currently ranks second in the Big 12 and 16th nationally by making 12.0 3-pointers per game. Tech leads the Big 12 with 16.0 offensive rebounds per game after having 15 more against Milwaukee and fourth in the Big 12 with 8.8 steals per game and only 10.0 turnovers per game. Through four games, Texas Tech is averaging 88.3 points, 17.8 assists, 41.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game as a team. Defensively, Tech has not allowed an opponent to make more than seven 3-pointers in a game and is limiting the opposition to only 70.3 points per game and to 41.7 percent shooting overall.
VIDEO RESOURCES: Define Yourself | TTW EP1 | TTW EP2 | TTW EP3 | TTW EP4
FEATURES: Watts | Toppin (The Athletic) | Anderson – FIBA U19
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