Texas Tech has the best unofficial tradition in college sports
Photo credit: Aaron E. Martinez / American Statesman
Do you remember when a fan launched a tortilla onto the court during the 2019 Men's NCAA Basketball National Championship? Yes, that game was played between Virginia and Texas Tech, and yes, Texas Tech fans have a tortilla-tossing tradition.
While it may not be so common at Texas Tech basketball games, it's absolutely known at Texas Tech football games.
The iconic Texas Tech tradition of throwing tortillas onto the football field at kickoff dates back to the 1980s and 1990s. And while the tradition is unlike any other in terms of action, it's similar in that it comes with a mixed origin story.
Some say TTU fans used to throw fountain drink lids on the field, but eventually, the concession stands stopped giving out drinks with lids. It's important to note that the legend says the cups were 44oz. So those were some solid-sized lids. But once they were gone, students pivoted to tortillas, likely because tortillas would be a common food item at tailgates and relatively easy to hide as you snuck it into the stadium.
The other legend is that once, an ESPN announcer said that all Lubbock has is "Texas Tech football and a tortilla factory" (to which fans took understandable offense) and started launching tortillas on the field. Texas Tech upset Texas A&M during that game, and the tradition was born.
Photo credit: Daily Toreador
The move has become so big that you'll absolutely see it at away football games, and maybe even a national championship game.
Patrick Mahomes expressed his love for it in 2017. Either way, the tradition was started; and we love a good tossing of food items. There is nothing better than fun and quirky college football traditions.
And we loved it so much we made a brand new tee for the occasion. Long live the Tortilla Toss!
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The story I was always told was an A&M coach said “Lubbock is as flat as a tortilla” and so the first game we threw them at was when A&M was in town.
Pro tip: take out a hole in the middle and they fly better!
Thank you for including the new Tortilla Toss shirt! I’m a die-hard Red Raider and my favorite thing in the world was explaining to my Alabama graduate husband the tortilla tradition.
Tortillas as good for tossing. Better for drinking a bunch of Chiltons at a tailgate and then eating them in the stadium mid-game.
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