The Big 12 Conference just voted 15–1 to toughen its ban on throwing objects onto the field, and Texas Tech’s famous tortilla-tossing ritual is directly in the crosshairs.
Under the new enforcement, teams get two warnings before refs start slapping 15-yard penalties on the third offense. Tortillas at kickoff? Still technically allowed—but only once before the warnings start piling up. After that, fans’ flying flour frisbees could cost the Red Raiders field position.
Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt isn’t backing down. He jumped on X to say, “The rules can change. But our tradition will not,” even pitching a corporate-branded spin: the United Supermarkets Opening Kickoff Tortilla Launch™.
Of course, this isn’t the first crackdown. The tradition has been “banned” since 1995, when the Southwest Conference tried to get Tech to stop. In 2001, the school announced a strict no-tolerance policy. Fans responded the only way Red Raiders know how: sneaking in tortillas by the bag.
The Big 12 might call them penalties, but in Lubbock, a 15-yard loss is just the price of keeping a flour-fueled tradition alive.
