Houstonist: Cougars clinch C-USA West title

Randy

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 16:52:12 -0600

Being a 1972 grad of UH I remember when the Cougars were national powerhouse, attaining the top ten in several of the four years I was there, I think we were up to number 2 (could be wrong) but then blew it losing to North Carolina. We were a major Independent back then, unaffiliated with any conference. Later UH joined the SWC whose other schools included Rice, Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, and SMU (not Oklahoma, sorry Matt). Arkansas split shortly thereafter. I enjoy seeing my alma mater doing well this year.

kevin whited

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:21:02 -0600

The Cougars' amazing season might also mean that they could be looking at an opportunity to be among former SWC rivals in the Big 12 conference. Dave Maggard keeps floating those rumors and hopes to hitch UH's Big 12 chances to Arkansas, which has been rumored to be considering jumping from the SEC to Big 12. The Big 12 (or Big 14 possibly) would LOVE to have Arkansas, but they don't want/need UH. UH can't even outdraw the Dynamo at the Robertson Dump. They don't have the financial resources in the athletics department to compete even with the bottom dwellers of the Big 12 (say what you want about OSU, but Boone Pickens has ensured they have the funding to compete). All they really have is a recruiting/tv market the Big 12 covets, but they can hit that market with a game every few years at Reliant and natural TV saturation. UH needs to concentrate on beating teams it should beat (like U La La), and winning its mediocre conference consistently. THEN it can start to think about re-alignment. But it's not in the cards right now.

Romes

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 01:48:14 -0600

Where did you get SAC from? The conferences that combined to become the Big XII were all of the Big 8 and 4 major members of the Southwest Conference (SWC not SAC... I never heard of SAC ever referenced). As much as I would like UH to be in the Big XII, for political reasons I really dont see it happening. About 3 or 4 years ago UH really pissed off UT when UH screwed UT fans with shotty temp seats in the North End Zone... that got condemnded before the game... so no one sat there, and a whole bunch of UT Alum miss out. In the fallout there after, I forgot most of those details, the UT Athletic Director promised never to play a game again against UH. So I dont see UT voting to allow in UH any time soon. Further I dont even think that Baylor would ever be kicked out. They spend enough money on athletics, and make enough of a show for the conference. Besides competitiveness comes and goes, so they may be better then Tech or even A&M at some point for a season.... sometime... maybe... Personally I think the minor D1 schools of Texas would be better suited to starting a Texas conference. While it wont be the SWC of old, it could contain many of the old faces. TCU, SMU, Rice would draw better crowds because of the familiar names. I think that it would much more exciting. With UTEPs resurgence and acceptance into a major conference, that makes them a viable inclusion. Throw in North Texas (a smaller D1 school but competetive on the north side of Dallas) and maybe some some Oklahoma or LA schools to round out a local conference. I even heard from a UT-Arlington alumni that he felt that UTA would be tempted to start their football program again if a minor Texas conference was formed... of course speculation and hope. I dont think the D2 schools in the state would bother moving up, they have too much going for them in the D2 world. So that would eliminate SFA & Texas State. anyway, I am rambling and working at night... -romes

Alex

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:38:25 -0600

Mike, you're right. I was misinformed about UH previously being in the Big 12, but there has been a lot of talk about UH replacing Baylor in the Big 12, like Matt said. And this is due in large part to the fact that they're winning games, especially against teams like OSU. They do suffer from a lack of fan support though, and it's definitely an uphill climb for the Cougars, but the least we can do is be positive. -Alex

Matt

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:08:37 -0600

It is a common misconception that UH used to be part of the Big XII. The Big XII was created by combining several of the teams from the Big 8 and the Southwest Athletic Conference (SAC), which are both now defunct. Many of the teams that where in the SAC included Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Oklahoma, Baylor, the University of Houston, and several others. Because of the number of recognizable names taken from the SAC and moved to the Big XII it is a common misconception that the University of Houston was removed from the Big XII. What is not a misconception is that the University of Houston belongs there. With out worrying about the origins of the original conferences and other inane facts we should be excited about the real possibility of the University of Houston becoming a member of the Big XII. With the University of Houston’s performance being able to match that of Big XII opponents (win over OSU) and Conference USA-West proves that UH can compete. It is already obvious that UH belongs in the Big XII. The University of Houston is the second largest school in C-USA and is even bigger than 10 out of the 12 schools in the Big XII. Plus with UH's attendance expected to rise from 35,000 to 45,000 within the next 10 years and with UH's status expected to be raised to a flagship public university UH's sports will also be sure to grow as well. The University of Houston has an incredibly bright future in store for itself. With Baylor having a overall 9-35 record in regular conference play since 1996 and with a fraction of the enrolment of UH and other Big XII schools (>14,200) here is to replacing Bears with the Cougars in the Big XII conference!

Mike

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:25:49 -0600

Yeah.. UH has never been in the big XII... so they really can't go back to it. And their ability to one day hope to join the bix XII has less to do with conference championships won and more to do with putting fans in the stands.