Before anyone in Lubbock cranks up the hate mail, a note: Three years ago, after a narrow win at Nebraska, I noted that Texas Tech was lucky to win in Lincoln. After all, a Husker defender--just moments after making what seemed to be a game-sealing interception--fumbled the ball and gave quarterback Cody Hodges a second chance. But in return for stating the obvious, I was swamped with mail from Lubbock, saying that Texas Tech has been pummeled and punished in the media over the past several decades.

I can only say today what I said three years ago: I'm sorry that the Red Raiders have been pounced on and pilloried by the press and the pundits. If other writers--in the 1980s, 1990s and in recent years--have been nasty or uncharitable to the Red Raider Nation, one can only lament such a lack of professionalism and hostility. Without any sense of falsity, it can be said that it would be really neat if a team like Texas Tech--nestled in a college town whose lifeblood is found in its football fortunes--did hit the big time and reach a BCS bowl game. It would be a tremendous story if Mike Leach, that unconventional orchestrator and a masterful maximizer of talent, could pull off a season for the ages and lift this program to the top of the Big 12.

Seriously, Red Raider fans, it would make for great copy and a media joyride if Texas Tech University played in the Fiesta or Sugar Bowl at the end of this season. Seeing Leach have his day in the sun would rate as a fabulous development for the sport and the people who cover it. In an ideal world, a school like Tech and a coach like Leach would cease to be bridesmaids and cross the threshold. The point cannot be made with any more clarity.

Now, with that being said, let's just acknowledge the obvious: Texas Tech doesn't deserve the hype it's getting.

The Red Raiders are apparently a trendy pick for a BCS at-large bid. Did I miss something, or do they still not play defense in Lubbock? Does Leach still have the kind of team that, historically, just doesn't win championships in this sport? What's fundamentally different about Red Raider football this year? Really and truly?

It's not even a debate. Texas Tech needs to prove its worth before any glowing reviews or bold pronouncements should be made. This team will be cheered mightily if it can reach the summit of the Big 12, and maybe even college football in general, but it must first earn a heightened reputation. Until then, this is still just another nice 9-3 program that does the most with what it has, but plays second fiddle to Texas and Oklahoma.

Would I love to be proven loud wrong about Texas Tech? Yes indeed. But in the meantime, humans were given brain cells for many reasons, one of them being the need to identify stupidity when it emerges. Picking Texas Tech for a BCS bowl game? As the great and noted philosopher