Texas Tech, K-State meet in inaugural Big 12 Conference rematch
The Big 12 conference was founded in early 1994. The first football season and conference games were played in the fall of 1996. The first of those conference matchups being Texas Tech vs Kansas State in Manhattan. The Wildcats took down the Red Raiders 21-14 that Saturday in late August of ’96 (Donnie Hart was in bounds). The Big 12 Conference announced some special treats for the occasion in a release Wednesday evening.
Rematch of the inaugural matchup
This Saturday will be a rematch of that inaugural game, as #13 Texas Tech heads up to Manhattan to take on Kansas State as they look to continue their march towards a historic season. This one will need to be won by the Red Raiders to keep their Big 12 Championship and College Football Playoff hopes alive. The path to the championship game, and therefore the playoff will become extremely difficult if they cannot win on Saturday.
The Big 12 will recognize the 30th anniversary of Big 12 football with the following according to the release from the conference.
- “FOX will air a special flashback segment on the 1996 battle between the Red Raiders and the Wildcats during its broadcast on Saturday.
- Pete Sousa and Taylor McHargue will break down the historical rematch on “Inside the 12” on truTV and HBO Max on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. CT.
- The original broadcast of the inaugural Big 12 game will be replayed on Big 12 Studios at 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, Oct. 30th on the 24/7 FAST Channel and Big 12 Conference YouTube page.
- “Big 12 Today” on TuneIn and Big 12 Studios will feature a look back at the original Big 12 meeting with Ari Temkin and James Westling before featuring Saturday’s rematch as the Game of the Week on Big 12 Radio.
- The Conference will promote the game with custom throwback social media content throughout the week on its official platforms.”
Quotes from the Big 12 office
In the release from the Big 12, the Chief Football and Competition Officer of the conference Scott Draper had this to say about the significance of the game.
“As the Conference recognizes its 30th season of football, we are excited to highlight this rematch of the inaugural Conference game.”
“Saturday’s game is a special opportunity to spotlight the tradition and history of Big 12 football that are key pieces of our Conference’s identity.”
Aforementioned game promotion
In case you missed it early Monday evening, the conference added some new icons and designs to their social media (pictured below). The new branding on the profile is one of the previously used conference logos, this one in particular being the conference’s logo from 1996 to 2003.
Summary
The Red Raiders have huge aspirations to finish out the last four games of the regular season, seeking their first Big 12 Championship game appearance. If the Red Raiders can win the next three they could clinch a championship spot before the bye week on November 22nd in some scenarios.
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