So today just happens to be International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Coincidence? Or a good omen for Texas Tech and its pirate-loving coach?

Former Texas Tech receiver Mike Crabtree (5), who caught the game-winning touchdown pass against Texas last year, lifted the team to one of its most monumental wins. The Red Raiders need to beat the Longhorns again today to improve their stature on the national scene.

Who knows, but Captain Mike Leach and his swashbuckling Red Raiders will need to do more than throw a few “Arrghs!” in the direction of second-ranked Texas. As Leach likes to say, they had better swing their swords if they intend to swipe the Longhorns’ loot.

Texas will be ready for war after last year’s loss in Lubbock, the team’s only defeat in 2008, and so will more than 100,000 burnt-orange-clad fans. And if the Red Raiders are up for the challenge – with a national-television audience watching – they can gain even more credibility as a program and perhaps finally legitimize themselves as a college football power.

You see, for all it accomplished last season – knocking off top-ranked Texas, starting 10-0 and climbing as high as second in the national polls – Tech has yet to attain elite status. The Red Raiders were unranked entering this season, and they’re still outside the top 25 despite two convincing wins.

Those outside the Tech community have a hard time believing the team can sustain its success without the likes of Graham Harrell, Mike Crabtree and Darcel McBath, whereas programs such as Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State and USC can say goodbye to Heisman Trophy winners and still be considered among the best teams in the nation.

Those teams produce top-level talents year in and year out, and they’ve been able to stack 10-win seasons on top of each other. Tech is getting closer on both fronts, but it hasn’t quite established that sort of reputation.

That’s largely because the Red Raiders haven’t won at Texas or Oklahoma in more than a decade, and as a result, they haven’t beaten either team in back-to-back years since 1997 and ‘98. Leach, in his 10th season at Tech, has yet to beat UT and OU in the same year, and he didn’t have a winning record in Big 12 Conference road games until last fall.

Until Leach and the Red Raiders cross those items off their checklist, and prove they can beat the big boys on an annual basis, the rest of the world won’t be convinced that they can.

A win today would go a long way in that regard, and it certainly would vault Tech back into the top 25. And with a remaining schedule that includes five more ranked opponents – three of those games are on the road – anything is possible from there.

But if the Raiders suffer their sixth straight loss in Austin – or fail to keep it close, at least – those same doubts will continue to linger. And they’ll have to settle for talking like pirates instead of swimming in treasure.

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