Houston Cougars Football Thread

DonnyMost · Aug 4, 2016

shastarocket said: ↑

Just found out that i'll be in town for the OU game. Any of y'all looking to unload a pair of tix or can recommend a place to buy them?
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I might have a couple extras

shastarocket · Aug 4, 2016

DonnyMost said: ↑

I might have a couple extras
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sent you a pm

Gimmmethemike · Aug 4, 2016

DonnyMost said: ↑

I might have a couple extras
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Can you hook it up brother

shastarocket · Aug 5, 2016

DonnyMost said: ↑

I might have a couple extras
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Any update regarding those tickets? I'd prefer to get this taken care of by tonight

DonnyMost · Aug 5, 2016

shastarocket said: ↑

Any update regarding those tickets? I'd prefer to get this taken care of by tonight
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I won't be able to give any answers on them until a few weeks from now. Sorry.

J.R. · Aug 8, 2016

UH banks on joining big leagues to 'sustain' athletics spending

In its quest to build a powerhouse athletics program, the University of Houston has reached something of a make or break moment.

UH is on a short list of colleges to get into the Big 12 Conference, which is at risk of slipping behind the nation's other elite athletic conferences and so looking to expand from 10 universities. The conference could decide to welcome new members as soon as this month.

For the first time, UH has the support of not only state leaders like Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, but the University of Texas, which had long been considered a major barrier for UH getting into the Big 12. And with whom UH has been engaged in a turf war over a planned expansion in Houston. Just two months ago, UT officials openly opposed a Big 12 expansion.

Joining a more elite athletic conference would be a major achievement for UH that could mean much greater media exposure and higher revenue for the college. Last year, every athletics program in the Big 12 made at least $30 million more than UH.

It's also a costly gamble. UH has spent more than $21 million in each of the past three years supporting an athletics program that doesn't make enough money to sustain itself. Last year, UH gave $26 million to its athletics program - the seventh-highest subsidy in the nation, according to an annual analysis of NCAA finances by USA Today. Athletics spending has frustrated some UH faculty and has driven up the cost of attendance. Rising student fees accounted for nearly 20 percent of athletic revenue at UH in 2014.

It's a practice that UH apparently realizes it cannot keep up. Chancellor Renu Khator wrote as much in an email obtained by the Houston Chronicle. If UH does not get into a major conference soon, "it will be difficult for us to sustain it," she wrote in 2014 to a UH professor who sent her an article about college athletics spending.

"It's a big bet and we're not a cash-rich school," Jonathan Snow, the president of UH's faculty senate, said in a recent interview.

UH officials, including Khator, who is also president of UH's main campus, and athletics director Hunter Yurachek, have worked aggressively to endear the university to the major athletic conferences, writing emails to leaders of Big 12 universities, visiting their campuses and sending holiday cards to Big 12 and Big Ten college presidents and conference leaders, documents obtained by the Chronicle show.

But getting into so-called Power 5 conferences - the Big 12, ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC - won't guarantee the painful flow of funding from academics to athletics will stop, experts said. Only about a third of the universities competing in the Power 5 conferences have athletics programs that make money, said Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist.

"Athletic departments have this way of spending more money than they bring in," said Murray Sperber, a University of California-Berkeley professor and an expert in the cost of college athletics.

Why the UT reversal?

The Big 12 announced last month that it plans to "actively evaluate" adding two or four colleges to the conference that now includes Texas, Baylor, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia. Soon after that, major players began lining up in favor of UH gaining entry, including the governor and lieutenant governor, neither of whom responded to a request for comment for this story.

The most surprising supporter, however, was the Texas flagship college in Austin - home to one of the most profitable athletics programs in the nation, which has long sought to keep UH out of the Big 12.

"UH is a huge asset for Texas," UT President Gregory Fenves tweeted in July.

There's a long history of bad blood between UH and UT. Recently, UH called UT's plan to expand on 300 acres in Houston an "invasion." UT has long believed that it dominates the college football television market in Houston, while there has been lingering animosity from UH and its fan base after the breakup of the Southwest Conference in the 1990s. Since then, UT also has been unwilling or disinterested in scheduling UH in any of the major collegiate sports.

UT's sudden support sparked speculation that a backroom deal had been struck - that Houston university officials would drop their opposition to UT's Houston expansion if UT helped them get into the Big 12. Officials at UT denied any such discussions took place and said there's no such agreement. UH declined to comment on the matter.

State Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who has been a vocal critic of UT's planned Houston expansion, said UH will continue to oppose it. He suggested UT might have been under political pressure to back UH after the governor and lieutenant governor both did.

"I don't think UT is doing it necessarily out of the goodness of their heart," Whitmire said. "There is no deal. I cannot emphasize that enough."

'Need to get going fast'

UH officials have worked aggressively behind the scenes for at least a year to get this major athletic conference opportunity, according to emails, travel records and other documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle through an open-records request.

Last June, when reports of a possible Big 12 expansion surfaced, Khator wrote to UH vice president of intercollegiate athletics Hunter Yurachek: "We need to get going fast."

UH officials spent weeks drafting and perfecting a brochure, which touted UH's academic and athletic strengths, to give to officials in the bigger conferences.

Khator conducted in-person meetings with eight of the 10 Big 12 university presidents, and Yurachek met in person or had phone calls with every Big 12 athletic director. Khator and Yurachek conducted an in-person meeting with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany in Chicago. Yurachek met with Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott in San Francisco.

Khator exchanged at times flattering emails with several university leaders in the Big 12, including Fenves at UT and E. Gordon Gee at West Virginia, who visited UH's main campus last November.

"Just writing to say hello in case you are in Houston, let me know," Khator wrote to TCU chancellor Victor Boschini in February. "The football season turned out very interesting for both of us. I loved your game against Baylor particularly. In any event, it would be lovely to see you again."

In a September 2015 email exchange, Kansas State president Kirk Schulz congratulated Khator on UH's football win over Louisville.

"A nice statement for your football program," wrote Schulz, who has since left for Washington State.

Late last year, Khator asked her chief of staff to have UH's communications team send holiday cards to all of the Big 12 presidents, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and Big Ten commissioner Delany.

Costly athletics arms race

Emails show UH leaders firmly engaged in a competitive arms race among colleges to best position themselves for an invite to the elite athletic conferences. In June 2015, Memphis - another contender for a Big 12 spot - tweeted about a major announcement regarding new football and basketball venues. UH athletics director Yurachek wrote to Khator: "We need to push forward and formally announce a Hofheinz (Pavilion) renovation in the next 3-6 months." By November, UH announced plans for a $60 million renovation of its basketball arena that is set to begin this spring.

Better stadiums required to play in the best athletic conferences are among the biggest costs to joining them, Zimbalist said. UH's two-year-old TDECU football stadium cost more than $126 million and is funded partly by a $45-per-semester student fee. Colleges nationwide, meanwhile, are paying coaches more every year while offering more perks, like cars (UH head football coach Tom Herman's contract includes two), bonuses for winning and big buyouts.

"Basically what happens is when schools in the Power 5 conferences get a lot more money … They find a way to spend it," Zimbalist said. "They don't have stockholders looking for profits at the end of the year; they have an athletic director looking for wins."

UH administrators, like those at nearly every other college in the nation, say a strong athletics program is key to success throughout the university. A winning football team attracts students and keeps alumni coming - and hopefully giving - back to the university. UH boasted a 30-percent jump in applications after the Cougars won the Peach Bowl last year.

Multiple studies, however, have questioned the benefits. While applications may see a bump after a big bowl win, that doesn't mean the academic performance of incoming students will improve. Other studies have cast doubt on whether athletics does much to actually drive donations and athletics programs in some cases have even been shown to "cannibalize" donations from the rest of the university.

Playing in Power 5 conferences is also more expensive. In 2014, UH's athletics department spent $45.4 million, according to USA Today's annual accounting of NCAA finances. Kansas State's athletic program, which spent the least of any public university in the Big 12, spent nearly $22 million more than UH. UT, which spends the most in the Big 12, spent $173.2 million on its athletic program.

"Because we are a competitive (football) team, we have no choice currently but to keep becoming better so we could get into the big 5," Khator wrote in a Dec. 4, 2014 email, responding to an article about colleges in non-elite conferences, like the American Athletic Conference that UH belongs to, pouring more and more money into athletics programs to "preserve the pretense of Division I status." The conference paid UH just $4.5 million last year.

"I worry about it too," she wrote. "Unless we make it in the big 5, we will have to face the same dilemma."
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Take with grain of salt

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source: BYU Big 12's No. 1 overall. Oklahoma wants Cincy. Texas of course wants Houston. Don't be surprised if compromise is Cincy & Houston</p>— Jason Williams (@jwilliamscincy) <a href="https://twitter.com/jwilliamscincy/status/762433790622916609">August 7, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The Big 12 has 10 teams. The Big Ten has 14. Whatever. The Big 12 recently announced that it's looking to expand, possibly with two more teams and maybe even four. Everybody from BYU to Cincinnati to Houston to South Florida to Tulane is under consideration.

The Big 12 will expand, probably even before the games kick off in September. I think it'll add only two teams -- probably Houston and maybe Cincinnati. The Big 12 adding four teams of the caliber it's considering for expansion would only water down its on-field product. It won't help it catch the SEC. After losing Cincinnati and Houston, the AAC won't replace them and will remain at 10 teams.

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...son-tide-repeat-other-2016-season-predictions
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Rocketman95 · Aug 8, 2016

DonnyMost said: ↑

I won't be able to give any answers on them until a few weeks from now. Sorry.
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Just want to let you know that you've always been one of my favorite posters. Collin Wilder also came from my high school. You're just great.

ballgame · Aug 8, 2016

J.R. said: ↑

UH banks on joining big leagues to 'sustain' athletics spending

Take with grain of salt

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source: BYU Big 12's No. 1 overall. Oklahoma wants Cincy. Texas of course wants Houston. Don't be surprised if compromise is Cincy & Houston</p>— Jason Williams (@jwilliamscincy) <a href="https://twitter.com/jwilliamscincy/status/762433790622916609">August 7, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Very interesting read! Hopefully this is the month we find out if we're in or not.

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Madmanmetz · Aug 9, 2016

J.R. said: ↑

UH banks on joining big leagues to 'sustain' athletics spending

Take with grain of salt

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source: BYU Big 12's No. 1 overall. Oklahoma wants Cincy. Texas of course wants Houston. Don't be surprised if compromise is Cincy & Houston</p>— Jason Williams (@jwilliamscincy) <a href="https://twitter.com/jwilliamscincy/status/762433790622916609">August 7, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
_______________________

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Very interesting. I don't know who Paula Short is but she was pushing the ACC as a better conference than the Big 12 back in March. One thing for sure, the fact that so many schools are losing money will mean changes in NCAA will be coming.

gucci888 · Aug 9, 2016

Madmanmetz said: ↑

One thing for sure, the fact that so many schools are losing money will mean changes in NCAA will be coming.
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That doesn't mean that at all. Schools have been losing money for quite some time now. But CFB as a whole has been making hand over fist and is more profitable than ever. The one thing for sure is that the NCAA isn't going to get involved with this, don't think they could even if they wanted either.

rocketry · Aug 9, 2016

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HTownTakeover?src=hash">#HTownTakeover</a> continues! at <a href="https://twitter.com/G_Ward1">@G_Ward1</a> on the <a href="https://twitter.com/SInow">@SInow</a> cover. Hits newsstands tomorrow. <a href="https://t.co/1xBspM2QDU">pic.twitter.com/1xBspM2QDU</a></p>— #HTownTakeover (@UHCougarFB) <a href="https://twitter.com/UHCougarFB/status/763030801214676992">August 9, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

DonnyMost · Aug 9, 2016

I'm at full mast

Brando2101 · Aug 9, 2016

rocketry said: ↑

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HTownTakeover?src=hash">#HTownTakeover</a> continues! at <a href="https://twitter.com/G_Ward1">@G_Ward1</a> on the <a href="https://twitter.com/SInow">@SInow</a> cover. Hits newsstands tomorrow. <a href="https://t.co/1xBspM2QDU">pic.twitter.com/1xBspM2QDU</a></p>— #HTownTakeover (@UHCougarFB) <a href="https://twitter.com/UHCougarFB/status/763030801214676992">August 9, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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That's pretty awesome. They are going to throw college football on its head if they beat OU. It would probably bump them from #13 in the coaches poll to 6-8.

the shark · Aug 9, 2016

Last time we saw a Cougar on the cover of SI was Klingler back in '91.

Sweet!!

Nook · Aug 9, 2016

Madmanmetz said: ↑

Very interesting. I don't know who Paula Short is but she was pushing the ACC as a better conference than the Big 12 back in March. One thing for sure, the fact that so many schools are losing money will mean changes in NCAA will be coming.
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The ACC is a better conference than the Big XII.

The NCAA isn't going to do anything.

As far as the Big XII is concerned they should add UH. The city of Houston is fertile Recruiting ground. Since TAMU joined the SEC, the number of 4 & 5 star recruits going to the SEC has increased greatly. Another major Texas school in a major conference would only dilute the talent pool further.

Nook · Aug 9, 2016

Brando2101 said: ↑

That's pretty awesome. They are going to throw college football on its head if they beat OU. It would probably bump them from #13 in the coaches poll to 6-8.
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Yes... Will be a long shot, but if they beat OU I think go into the top 5-6.

They beat OU and they have a 50/50 shot to run the table and get a bid.

Fulgore · Aug 9, 2016

Holy s*** G Ward on the cover of SI. I'm sure Tony Levine is loving that. One of the few who offered him a scholarship as a qb.

MystikArkitect · Aug 9, 2016

Nook said: ↑

Yes... Will be a long shot, but if they beat OU I think go into the top 5-6.

They beat OU and they have a 50/50 shot to run the table and get a bid.
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Hope Herman has his boys prepared. Florida state overlooked the Coogs but because of that Stoops sure as hell won't.

Should be a great game.

Nook · Aug 9, 2016

MystikArkitect said: ↑

Hope Herman has his boys prepared. Florida state overlooked the Coogs but because of that Stoops sure as hell won't.

Should be a great game.
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Florida State didn't really overlook UH; they were just out played by a better team. UH was controlling the lines against FSU.

PhiSlammaJamma · Aug 9, 2016

I still find it hard to believe it was that team that made it the furthest in history given all the firepower we've had in the past, all of our struggles on the goal line, and what appeared to be the lack of a qb and Farrow on the shelf. Great season. If Ward has any kind of passing game this year they could be scary. I really did not look at last years team as that dominant offensively, it felt like Ward was just a one man show for the most part, even though I know it was a team effort, it felt that way. I was so proud of them.

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