Texas Tech Meat Judging Is The Greatest Dynasty Of All-Time After Winning 2021 National Championship

Texas Tech Meat Judging National Championship

Texas Tech University

  • Texas Tech Meat Judging is a dynasty greater than that of Alabama football.
  • The TTU meat judgers won another national title over the weekend and simply cannot be stopped.
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Texas Tech’s Meat Judging team won its third-consecutive National Championship over the weekend and it’s official— Texas Tech University is a meat judging school. Meat judging, like college football, is built around recruiting, facilities, scholarships and rivalries and it’s exactly what it sounds like.

Competitors literally judge meat.

The Red Raiders earned their 16th title in program history on Sunday, surpassing the football team’s total number of bowl wins since it was founded in 1925. Only Oklahoma State has more meat judging national championships with 19, but the eight of the last 10 have gone in favor of the team from Lubbock, Tex.

Texas Tech National Championships By Year:

  • 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021

Here is how it works:

Schools directly compete against one another and are scored based on their ability to evaluate cuts of beef, pork and lamb. Each school moves through a series stations known as classes and use specific defining factors to determine whether the 10 cuts of meat at each station fit a checklist of USDA standards.

For example, one class asks the judge to estimate the amount of fat and muscle on a cut of beef down to fractions of an inch with only his or her eyeball measurements.

Each school can send as many representatives to a competition as it would like, but only four competitors count toward the team score and each student is limited to only one season of eligibility at the collegiate level. Twenty or so schools typically compete at the International Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest in Dakota City, Neb. every November, but the powerhouse programs come from agricultural hotbeds; Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Colorado State and Kansas State.

Some competitors grow up competing in meat judging at 4H competitions, some start in high school with the Future Farmers of America, and some start when they get to college. No matter when you begin, learning the quick-decision making and critical reasoning that is required to stand in silence for upward of six hours and judge meat in a room that is essentially a refrigerator isn’t easy.

Here are the meat judgers listed on this year’s TTU roster:

Texas Tech Meat Judging 2021

Texas Tech University

  • Jake Bagby, from Stephenville, Texas
  • Cassie Bendele, from Hondo, Texas
  • Bryce Black, from Prosper, Texas
  • Grace Carver, from Flower Mound, Texas
    • (The best meat judging name in the country)
  • Kindle Catching, from Howe, Texas
  • Arliss Corliss, from Estancia, New Mexico
  • Morgan Elsworth, from Spring Branch, Texas
  • Grayson Harrell, from Crandall, Texas
  • Skylar Hough-Anderson, from Canton, Texas
  • Shelby Kinsey, from Lockhart, Texas
  • Caleb Kunde, from Marion, Texas
  • Grace Parker, from Slaton, Texas
  • Hannah Pearson, from Oconto, Nebraska
  • Paige Perryman, from Lubbock, Texas
  • Laurell Pfeiffer, from Hondo, Texas
  • Rance Smith, from Royse City, Texas
  • Cade Snethen, from Otterbein, Indiana
  • Kylan Swinney, from Deming, New Mexico
  • Reid Swinney, from Deming, New Mexico
    • (Can you believe Dabo Swinney let this talent go to Texas Tech over Clemson?)
  • Preston Twilligear, from Hondo, Texas
  • Dayton Wood, from Cumby, Texas

There is no telling what the teams will look like next season. However, one thing is for certain: Texas Tech head coach Dr. Mark Miller is running a dominant program that has been compared to Nick Saban and Alabama.