'Old Town road' song has Raiders rocking

Tennessee has "Rocky Top." Texas Tech has "Old Town Road."

The Lil Nas X rap song starts, "Yeah, I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road. I'm gonna ride til I can't no more."

Red Raiders players have been blaring it for weeks, before and after victories, and it's become a theme song for fans, too.

" 'Old Town Road' is the diversity we're looking for in our program," Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said.

"I like country. The guys like hip-hop, rap, and it's both. The first time we heard it, I think we just ran with it."

Before Saturday's win over Michigan State, the Red Raiders got a pep talk from Pat Mahomes, the former Red Raiders quarterback who just won NFL Most Valuable Player honors with the Kansas City Chiefs.

"With Pat, it's personal. He's friends with these guys," Beard said. "[Senior center Norense Odiase] was at Tech playing when Pat was playing quarterback for us, so they're just friends.

"[Mahomes is] as good as I've ever seen in terms of not forgetting where he comes from and having a real love for Texas Tech and west Texas."

Texas Tech guard Brandone Francis was asked what he would tell gun control activists who object to the school's "guns up" slogan and hand signal, especially in light of the shooting death of Francis' friend, rapper Nipsey Hussle, on March 31.

"Doing the 'guns up' — it's part of school history tradition, but when it comes down to the streets and the real guns that are affecting our world, I am not OK with that." Francis said.

"You know a lot of people losing loved ones … put the guns down, love each other. We have to do better not only for us but for our future."