Soggy Forecast Forces Texas Tech to Cancel Spring Scrimmage

© Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK

Anyone familiar with what The Weather Channel has twice called Lubbock, Texas—the worst weather city in the United States—knew that the inevitable might occur for the Texas Tech Red Raiders football spring scrimmage. Mother Nature has plans on Saturday that don’t jive with spring football and thus Texas Tech has canceled its spring scrimmage in Midland.

While in Lubbock, with the Jones AT&T stadium renovations in full swing, this year's soft-season opener was to be moved two hours south to the Permian Basin. Midlands Astound Broadband Stadium was to host Texas Tech's first public 2024 scrimmage but with thunderstorms, lightning, and a 90 percent chance of showers in the forecast, the Red Raiders will stay home, much to the dismay of West Texas football fans and alumni.

“Football is not so much a religion here in the LBK, as much as it is part of the fabric of our lives," said TTU sophomore student Jordan McKee. “We’ve been keeping an eye on the weather all week and, well, it’s a bummer not to see the guys play."

“This was a decision we didn’t want to make as our entire program was looking forward to our trip back to Midland,” coach Joey McGuire said in his statement on Thursday. “As we got further into this week, it has become clear we’d likely not be able to start our Spring Game on time, let alone complete it. We appreciate the many donors who helped organize this event, as the Permian Basin area is such a tremendous supporter of this football program and university."

As of this writing, the University of Texas has not announced whether its spring scrimmage will also be canceled tomorrow, due to the same storm affecting Texas Tech. UT kickoff at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.

In Lubbock, instead of outdoors and the typical 90 degrees in mid-April, Tech will play in the comfort of the indoors at their Sports Performance Center away from public eyes. The SPC is part of the nearly complete $240 million south-end zone renovation and expansion. When complete it will be the largest contiguous football complex in the country. The Jones AT&T stadium on the northeast side of the Tech campus is slated for completion before the Aug. 31 home opener. The Red Raiders start their season against one of the newer FBS football programs in the country, Abilene Christian.