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Raider Red is one of the mascots of Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University is a public university, coeducational, research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the List of largest Texas universities by enrollment student body in the state of T...
. The main mascot is The Masked Rider
The Masked Rider

The Masked Rider is the primary mascot of Texas Tech University. It is the oldest of the university's mascots still in existence today. Originally called "Ghost Rider", it was an unofficial mascot appearing in just a few games in 1936 and then becoming the official mascot with the 1954 Gator Bowl....
 who rides a live horse. Raider Red is used at events where The Masked Rider is not allowed or would not be appropriate.

Around the 1971 football season, the Southwest Conference created a rule forbidding the bringing of live animal mascots to away games unless the host school permitted it. Since the Masked Rider's horse might have been prohibited from attending some games under this rule, Raider Red was created as an alternate mascot.






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Raider Red is one of the mascots of Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University is a public university, coeducational, research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the List of largest Texas universities by enrollment student body in the state of T...
. The main mascot is The Masked Rider
The Masked Rider

The Masked Rider is the primary mascot of Texas Tech University. It is the oldest of the university's mascots still in existence today. Originally called "Ghost Rider", it was an unofficial mascot appearing in just a few games in 1936 and then becoming the official mascot with the 1954 Gator Bowl....
 who rides a live horse. Raider Red is used at events where The Masked Rider is not allowed or would not be appropriate.

Around the 1971 football season, the Southwest Conference created a rule forbidding the bringing of live animal mascots to away games unless the host school permitted it. Since the Masked Rider's horse might have been prohibited from attending some games under this rule, Raider Red was created as an alternate mascot. Texas Tech now plays in the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference

The Big 12 Conference is a list of college athletic conferences of twelve schools located mostly in the central United States. It is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I for all sports; its American football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football c...
, but the tradition of having both mascots continues.

Jim Gaspard, a member of the Texas Tech Saddle Tramps student spirit organization, created the original design for the Raider Red costume based on a character created by Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock, Texas

Lubbock is an United States of America city in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in the West Texas part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, it is the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, and the home of Texas Tech University....
, cartoonist and former mayor Dirk West
Dirk West

Gerald Glynn "Dirk" West was an editorial cartoonist and journalist from Lubbock, Texas most famous for his caricatures of college mascots. He was born in Littlefield, Texas but his family moved to Lubbock soon after....
. Raider Red is a Wild West
American Old West

For cultural influences and their development, see Western .The American Old West or Wild West comprises the history, geography, peoples, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States , most often referring to the period of the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of th...
 character with an over-sized cowboy hat. He carries two guns which he fires into the air after Texas Tech scores.

The student serving as Raider Red is a member of the Saddle Tramps or High Riders. Although The Masked Rider's identity is public knowledge, Raider Red's identity is normally kept secret until the end of his or her tenure as mascot. On March 15, 2007, it was revealed that, for the first time, two different people (one man and one woman) served as Raider Red during the same period of time.

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