Just over a month on from his Super Bowl heartbreak with the Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes suffered more agony Saturday night.
The NFL icon was forced to watch his Alma Mater, Texas Tech, choke in the Elite Eight of March Madness against Florida.
Two days after the Red Raiders’ furious comeback to beat Arkansas in overtime, they were on the other end of a rally by top-seeded Florida in an 84-79 loss.
Texas Tech missed a chance to reach the program’s first Final Four since losing the championship game to Virginia in 2019 as they squandered a nine-point lead over the final 3:14.
Yet Mahomes offered a short and sweet reaction to the crushing blow as he chose to focus on the positives.
‘Great season!!!,’ the three-time Super Bowl winner posted on X, tagging the men’s basketball team account and adding a couple of flex emojis.
Patrick Mahomes shared a short and sweet message to his former college Texas Tech Saturday
Texas Tech squandered a nine-point lead in the dying minutes of their Elite Eight matchup
After his Alma Mater’s loss to Florida, the quarterback took to social media
Mahomes spent his college years in Lubbock playing under center for Texas Tech’s football team and has frequently returned to the school to catch the basketball team in action.
However, it appears the quarterback watched his former college’s on-court meltdown from the safety of his home Saturday night.
It was a nightmare for Texas Tech who, until the waning, crucial minutes, crashed the boards with authority to corral timely rebounds that led to extra scoring chances. They forced turnovers and capitalized on Florida’s miscues.
Then Walter Clayton Jr. took over the game for the Gators and Texas Tech went flat.
Darrion Williams missed the pressure shots he made in crunch time against the Razorbacks. He led Texas Tech with 23 points but couldn’t convert two 3-pointers over the final 33 seconds. Florida, meanwhile, made four straight shots during a 12-2 run in the closing minutes, a spurt featuring two 3s by Clayton.
Williams and JT Toppin – the Big 12 player of the year and newcomer of the year – and their supporting cast could have another chance at making a deep run for coach Grant McCasland next March if the team stays together.
The 84-79 loss ended their chance of reaching the Final Four for first time since 2019
But this one will sting for a while.
Williams played brilliantly before those two misses that he will wish he had back.
The Red Raiders did so much right, yet every missed opportunity at this stage is magnified. They held a 22-5 advantage in points off turnovers and led 23-8 in second-chance points.
Once the final buzzer sounded at Chase Center and Texas Tech had been oh so close, fifth-year senior Kerwin Walton stood with his hands on his hips as Florida and its well-traveling crowd, and not the Red Raiders, celebrated having earned a berth to the Final Four next weekend in San Antonio.
