* Presumably, Texas Tech’s matchup with Pine Bluff was Matt Wells’ baby. Regardless of who was responsible, it was a miscarriage. And what was an absurd game on paper several years ago was made even more ridiculous by NIL/transfermania. Wells, at least, couldn’t be blamed for that.
In the context of the present regime of college sports, what we saw last night, from a fiscal standpoint, was a matchup of Fortune 500 CFOs versus a band of Allsup’s cashiers. And the disparity in earnings–which also extended to the coaching staffs–reflected a vast gap in talent which played out on the field in the form of a total wipeout, a game in which there was never the slightest shadow of a doubt that Texas Tech could simply name the score. There will be a reprise next week when Kent, four-point victors over mighty Merrimack, comes to town next Saturday.
* That preamble serves as a caveat. Because the matchup between Texas Tech and Pine Bluff was between a highly paid professional organization and an upper-tier sandlot club from the Arkansas woods, assessment of the Red Raiders has needs be highly provisional. The lower the level of competition, the lesser the quality of the diagnostic feedback. But you work with the material at hand…