Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders ranked for 25th straight AP Top 25 release
February 23, 2026 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK – Texas Tech is at No. 16 in this week's Associated Press Men's Basketball Top 25 to extend its program record to 25 straight appearances in the AP Top 25. Along with the AP Top 25, the Red Raiders (20-7, 10-4 Big 12) come in at No. 16 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, No. 14 in the NCAA NET and No. 16 Kenpom ratings after the loss at Arizona State. The NCAA Selection Committee slotted the Red Raiders as a four seed (13th overall) on Saturday, Feb. 21 in its preliminary top 16 for the season. Selection Sunday is set for March 15 with the full 68-team bracket to be revealed at 5 p.m. on CBS. Â
Tech, which hosts Cincinnati at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, has already won three games this season against top 10 opponents with wins over then-No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 Duke and No. 6 Houston. The next opportunity will come this weekend with a road game at No. 4 Iowa State (23-4) at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Ames, Iowa. Along with the Cyclones, this week's AP Top 25 is topped by No. 1 Duke (25-2), No. 2 Arizona (25-2), No. 3 Michigan (25-2) and No. 5 Houston (25-3). The Big 12 is also represented by No. 14 Kansas (20-7) and No. 19 BYU (20-7).
Only four regular-season games remain for the Red Raiders who are playing without JT Toppin for the remainder of the season after he suffered an ACL tear in his right knee at Arizona State on February 17. Toppin, who was the 2024-25 Big 12 Player of the Year and Consensus Second Team All-American, was averaging 21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks this season – making him the only player nationally averaging over 20 points and a double-double. The conference leader with 16 double-doubles, he is a four-time Big 12 Player of the Week selection this season and is listed on the Wooden Award and Naismith National Player of the Year Late-Season Watch Lists. Christian Anderson leads the Big 12 and is third nationally with 7.7 assists per game and is also on the Wooden Award and Naismith National Player of the Year Late-Season Watch Lists. Toppin and Anderson are the only teammates on the Wooden Award Watch List. Anderson is also averaging 19.1 points per game after going for 21 points and 10 assists for his seventh double-double in the win over Kansas State. Donovan Atwell leads the Big 12 with 100 made 3-pointers this season and is second in the conference by shooting 45.7% from deep. He has already passed Cory Carr's previous single-season record of 94 from the 1996-97 season while Anderson is now only four 3s away from matching it. Anderson also has 200 assists this season, becoming only the third Red Raider in program history with 200 or more with Elijah Hawkins establishing a new single-season record last season with 226.
Atwell is averaging 12.5 points per game this season while LeJuan Watts is adding 12.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game after scoring 19 against Kansas State and freshman Jaylen Petty is at 9.0 points per game. Anderson is 91-for-206 (44.2%) on 3-pointers this season which puts him fifth on Tech's single-season records list. Atwell is 100-for-219 (45.7%) – ranking second nationally with 3.7 made 3s per game and fifth in percentage. Anderson ranks eighth nationally with 3.5 made 3s per game and is ninth by shooting 44.2% from deep. Luke Bamgboye started against Kansas State in Toppin's place and provided 12 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
Tech is 6-1 in Big 12 home games going into the matchup against Cincinnati and leads the Big 12 with 11.4 made 3-pointers per game and is second by shooting 39.2% from deep and a 55.9 effective field goal percentage. The 100 points against Kansas State was the third time overall this season and second time in Big 12 play that Tech has scored over 100 with a season-high 102 against Oklahoma State. Tech ranks fifth in the conference with a 1.53 assist-to-turnover ratio and an average of 16.1 assists per game after having 18 assists and only six turnovers against K-State. The team averages 82.1 points per game and has limited opponents to 72.3 points throughout the season. The Red Raiders were 13-for-28 (46.4%) on 3-pointers against K-State and have now made 10 or more in 21-of-27 games this season, including setting a new program record with 17 in games against Baylor, Oklahoma State and Lindenwood. The Red Raiders established new program records on 3-pointers the past two seasons under McCasland by making 371 last season (37 games) and 289 the year before (34 games). As a team, Tech is 309-for-788 (39.2%) on 3-pointers through 27 games this season which is already the second most made in a season in program history. The Red Raiders rank fifth in the Big 12 with only 10.6 turnovers per game. Tech had made 10-or-more 3s in 10 straight games before Arizona State limited the team to nine.
RED RAIDER RANKING STREAK
Texas Tech was unranked for the majority of the 2024-25 season but would rise to No. 8 in the final rankings after advancing to the Elite Eight. This year's team was ranked No. 10 in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll for its highest preseason ranking in program history. The program is now on its longest streak with 25Â straight appearances in the AP Top 25.
Unranked - Jan. 20, 2025
No. 22 – Jan. 27, 2025
No. 13 – Feb. 3, 2025
No. 12 – Feb. 10, 2025
No. 9 – Feb. 17, 2025
No. 10 – Feb. 24, 2025
No. 9 – March 3, 2025
No. 9 – March 10, 2025
No. 9 – March 17, 2025
No. 8 – April 8, 2025 (FINAL)
No. 10 – Oct. 13, 2025 (PRESEASON)
No. 11 - Nov. 11, 2025
No. 15 - Nov. 17, 2025
No. 20 – Nov. 24, 2025
No. 19 - Dec. 1, 2025
No. 16 - Dec. 8, 2025
No. 19 - Dec. 15, 2025
No. 15 – Dec. 22, 2025
No. 14 – Jan. 5, 2026
No. 15 – Jan. 12, 2026
No. 12 – Jan. 19, 2026
No. 11 – Jan. 26, 2026
No. 13 – Feb. 2, 2026
No. 16 – Feb. 9, 2026
No. 13 – Feb. 16, 2026
No. 16 – Feb. 23, 2026
VIDEO RESOURCES: Define Yourself | TTW EP1 | TTW EP2 | TTW EP3 | TTW EP4 | CBS Home Court
Follow the Red Raiders: Keep up with Texas Tech men's basketball news at TexasTech.com and at the team's social media on Instagram, X and Facebook.
