http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-jeff-jacobs-column-0216-20160216-column.html Unlike Cincinnati, UConn-Big 12 communications amount to zero as of this moment. Make of that what you will.
Except it's not true. We're hearing from the actual discussions taking place within the Big12. From what we can tell, nowhere is UH being discussed by anyone who has actual say in the decisions. The Big12 has a footprint problem outside of Texas and desperately needs to get into some states that actually have people living in them. Cinci isn't a great option, but it puts them in Ohio. BYU isn't a great option due to logistics, but it gives them the whole Mormon world. UH just doesn't bring anything major to the Big12. They have a lot more value to another conference that doesn't have a presence in the state. And the B12 would be silly to make a decision to pick a less valuable team to them just to prevent another conference from getting into the state. The SEC was the same way when they did expansion - they had a rule of not accepting any new members in a state they already had a footprint because the whole point of expansion is to expand the footprint. As long as of the 4 current Texas Big12 schools are good, the Big12 will be a dominant conference in the state. There's just no major benefit to adding UH.
My observation has been that guys like Kirk Bohls, Chuck Carlton, etc (i.e. guys who are deeply embedded in the Texas Big 12 scene) never give UH a thought. And that's not a coincidence. Their sources are undoubtedly against UH, so that's the story they will write. Nothing wrong with that. We don't have reporters for the Kansas City Star, Iowa City Press-Citizen, or the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (I guess that's the largest WVU centric newspaper up there..) chiming in with their opinions and sources for us to dissect. So far the only information is really coming strictly from North Texas, so that's the angle from which things will be looked at. You can claim that these writers from outside of Big 12 country are ignorant or too far removed to have their opinions and sources trusted, but you can't tell me it "isn't true" that they're including UH in the expansion discussion quite frequently.
Just for funsies I googled "Team X" + "Big 12" Here's the results Houston Cougars = 439K results Cinci Bearcats = 453K BYU Cougars = 586K UConn Huskies = 111K UCF Knights = 396K USF Bulls = 70K Boise State = 633K Memphis Tigers = 436K ECU Pirates = 14K So, at least somebody is talking about us (although half of those are probably my posts on CF.net )
Kirk Bohls is anything but a sunshine pumper for UT. He has been openly negative towards the university for years now and doesn't shy away from it. Don't read enough of Carlton but Bohls is not a mouthpiece for the university, he is the opposite if anything. They are chiming in all right, but like most small town papers, you're not going to read about it unless searching for it really. From what I have read in local and national articles, most are saying UH makes sense geographically but that's about it and Big 12 doesn't gain much by the addition. http://www.wvgazettemail.com/sports/20160118/mitch-vingle-wvu-should-support-borens-big-12-identity Unless I have missed something, has Boren or other Big 12 president publicly advocated for UH? Boren has been extremely outspoken and has mentioned UC and UL publicly. But I have yet to hear UH actually mentioned by Boren, Gee, or other schools wanting expansion. Could have missed something though.
I think it's very unlikely you'll find Iowa St, Kansas or Kansas St advocating the big 12 shift more toward Texas. They voted along with Nebraska and Missou for the big 12 HQ to be in Kansas City (where it was for the big 8). However, the new texas schools, OU, Ok St and Colorado voted to move it to Dallas. That didn't set well with Nebraska or Missou. I can't imagine the other schools were thrilled about it. Considering how type heavy the Texas teams are, I really really don't think those north teams want to shift more down there. West Virginia obviously prefers teams closer to them. That's why it's maddening to see people blame Texas for UH not getting in. No other Texas school wants them in either and I really doubt Iowa St, Kansas St or Kansas do either. No idea about the Ok schools. That email with Boren seems like it pretty much seals the deal that this will happen with Cincy. It might have to happen this summer if the AAC tries to change league rules to make it harder for a team to leave. It would be funny if the switch takes place the same year when they decide to go to a 8 team playoff but that might still be a ways off. I'm positive the league paid some kind of research firm to look into all of the potential additions and that'll probably be the biggest factor in the 12th team. Cincy is a good option and the right choice but I'm not waking up tomorrow and getting pumped up for more big 12 league play. I'll really really miss the round robin and paying every team every year. BUT this should open up a spot for an additional non-conference game. Put the ball in A&M's court and see if they have any holes to fill. I really don't care about starting the game back up. I never really looked forward to it before. It was more of a "God if we lose this game it'll be really annoying." That being said, I would rather we put the invite out in the open before they do. If anyone doesn't get what I'm saying, go to the GigEm message boards and look for any posts mentioning tea sippers, TU or some other dumb ****. I'll be happy as long as the OU-Texas game is on the schedule.
This is sort of the point I was trying to make, but maybe didn't do a very good job. When we hear from actual power brokers in the Big12, UH never seems to come up. And when you hear about what expansion people are always trying to accomplish, UH doesn't really make much sense for the Big12. It makes far more sense for other conferences, though there's a geographical logistical problems for anyone except the SEC. I don't really have any feelings one way or another towards UH. It's just how I see the discussions heading and the purpose of expansion in the first place.
Same here. It's like the food court at the mall. There's that pretzel place and there's Chik Fil A, I'm going to Chik Fil A. That doesn't mean I'm hating on the pretzel place, i just wasn't even thinking about it.
I thought U of H would look to the PAC12, but ACC is looking like the better fit these days. When they get picked up by either conference I think that will mark the demise of the BIG12. Look at who UH and A&M will be bringing to town on the regular in Footbal and Basketball. To me the markets the BIG12 are looking to expand into are not worth loosing another school(A&M being 1st) to a major conferences like the the ACC or the PAC12 who have better TV exposure and name programs in Football and Basketball. BYU and Memphis make some sense but Cincinnati would be a fail to me and I can see UConn and maybe Memphis going ACC as well. Can you imagine UH playing in a ACC featuring FSU, Clemson, UNC, GTech, Duke, Wake Forest and NC State, Miami, and alternating a Notre Dame game every few years. These are just the southern teams except for Notre Dame. Why would I tune in to the Longhorn Network or the Big12 period. Recruiting in the state of Texas would no doubt move to favor UH. You would think the BIG12 would want to protect against this.
I think we are all thinking about football first. UConn would be a great addition with the media market, but that would make an insane Hoops conference. UConn will gain better football recruiting and the conference will be legit again with 12 teams. I went to the UConn vs Texas game for basketball and that was a much better crowd than normal.
First, you are assuming that both the PAC12 and ACC want to expand despite there being almost zero talks of any expansion for any conference outside the BIG12. Are we eventually heading to 16+ team super conferences? Maybe, but almost all of that talk has disappeared since the last round of realignment. Second, you are assuming that UH will be high on both of the lists by the time that comes about. That means you are assuming Herman will stick around for the long haul. That is a topic for another thread but I think most will agree that possible realignment for a conference outside of the Big 12 could easily be a minimum of 5+ years away. That is a long time to project IMO. In other words, the Big 12 should add UH if they are the best candidate but don't think they should be playing prevent defense in this scenario. A ton of what ifs and projections IMO. As far as recruiting, this is just silly. A&M has the perfect trifecta for recruiting and still got beat out by Texas, TCU and Baylor this year. The SEC is the only conference that I believe can sway kids to one school or another. The ACC and Pac 12 (and Big 12 for that matter) don't have nearly that type of pull. Would it help UH? Yup but to say it would favor UH over UT, Baylor, A&M, and TCU is a big stretch.
Bigger market is not really true - there are more people in Houston that are alums/fans of UT and A&M than UH, and more importantly, more diehard types because so many fans grow up in UT or A&M households. Better coach is irrelevant to expansion decisions - these are 20+ year timeframes that schools are looking at. How good a team is now is basically irrelevant in the grand scheme. Teams like TCU got really lucky - they got in only because there was desperation in the last round of expansion where people were concerned that the conference might imminently collapse. But outside of that, the actual success of a team at any moment in time are not going to play much of a factor at all.
you are assuming the coach will stay there as long as Bob Stoops or Nick Saban. He's under the Urban Meyer tree, Urban Meyer left Utah for a better job, Florida.
I agree with Major that the coaches are largely irrelevant. I do think it's possible that Herman stays at UH for a while. He wrote into his contract that they have to follow through with all the facility upgrades they promised or his buyout would go way down. If they have a good year next year and actually sell out their stadium then I think it would give him a lot of reason to stay. I'm not sure enough could happen in a year though to keep him from taking the UT or A&M job if it is offered. If UCONN does leave the AAC then all traces of the old Big East will be gone. It'll fully be Conference USA II. If Cincy also leaves then UH will be tied with a few other schools as the 2nd oldest team in the AAC. I think the real question is who will the AAC go after to replace Cincy and UCONN: Rice? Western Kentucky? Miami (OH)? They should stick it to the big 12 and go after Texas State. It's possible this could work out for UH with the ACC. If the AAC tries to enact new rules to keep teams from leaving then the ACC might be forced to sweep in and invite UH while they can. I'm not sure if the majority of AAC teams would vote for those changes if they all would want to leave if given the chance.
I wouldn't say he has done anything yet to eclipse a guy like Art Briles. Market size really doesn't matter all that much in College Football. Most all-time great college programs aren't even in big markets. And as Major already eluded to, UH is probably 3rd fiddle in their own city when it comes to the market. So yeah, no. Until I see it, I doubt it. There's too many programs in this state that are thriving right now to say a program like UH will suddenly eclipse them all in recruiting if they go to a bigger conference. Pump the brakes.
UT is the big dog and the Longhorn Network has about 6.5m subscribers in Texas I'm curious how many of those are in greater Houston area. TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech have a combined student population of about 57k annually. UH has a student population of 42k. Most students will move away from TCU, Baylor, or Tech and a lot will probably move to Houston. UH students will most likely stay in Houston. From a market standpoint if UH tends to do well then there is a potential for the fanbase to eclipse the lower tier Texas schools. Anyway it just shows that it would be good for B12 if UT got rid of the LHN otherwise I don't think the B12 presence is as good as people think it is especially with all the LSU and A&M people here.
