It’s early season in college hoops and while most cards on recent days have been relatively light, there are still some match ups that definitely intrigue you as time unfolds.

Tonight, Texas Southern visits the Red Raiders of Texas Tech in a battle of two in state programs with aspirations for improvement this year.

Fresh off a 12 point loss at Alabama on Thursday, Tech comes back home to play a school that is roughly 7 hours away and far below them in terms of being a traditionally strong sports program.

Red Raider basketball has been less than spectacular in recent seasons, with 2012-2013 being an especially difficult 11-20. Texas Southern went 17-14 a season ago but finished with a 16-2 mark in conference.

Texas Southern also got a massive boost from the transfer of Aaric Murray. The former WVU Mountaineer came down to Houston after last season and is thriving early on. The 6’10 pdocut of Philadelphia has bounced around multiple times, but brings a lot of size and ability to the table.

Murray has flourished early, and the eligibility of Bronx native and Gulf Coast State College transfer Jose Rodriguez has given them a second scoring option who, at 6’6, also brings size to the back court and an ability to play the wing.

Ray Penn and Lawrence Johnson-Tanner provide experience and stability in this back court while DeAngelo Scott is a 6’7 forward who also helps out on the glass. While they don’t have excellent depth, their talent level and scoring potential alone make them a difficult matchup for a red Raider team that doesn’t have great offense, and that is why this spread is relatively small.

Texas Tech is a 6.5 point favorite here, and the primary reason is that they grade out much better defensively than Texas Southern. A depleted Miami team dealing with roster changes at every position scored 84 points against TSU on 35-69 shooting. They also gave up 80 plus on tow other occasions during their first four games, a telling sign that they are far from committed on that end.

Texas Tech has some serious limitations and a questionable amount of talent. Normally this would make for a good fade of them, regardless of them playing at home where their home court advantage is a concern to begin with.

I like this Texas Southern team and hope for an advantageous opportunity to use them. I do not believe that this game is that chance, however.

The Red Raiders are also an interesting group because they do have some playmakers. Robert Turner is a point guard transfer who gives this team a very important and stabilizing piece at the one guard.

Jaye Crockett and Jordan Tolbert are a tough pair of forwards who can score in different ways and take advantage of questionable defense at the small forward spot, another possible weakness of Texas Southern.

Keep an eye on this game as TSU has a chance to do some damage this year. Hitting the road and trying to beat a power conference group will be a challenge. It’s probably a bit early in the season for them to be successful here, but monitoring their progress could be interesting.