The fact is anyone's attendance would take an enormous hit if they were suddenly relegated to a G5 conference. UT is a behemoth, marquee program, but their fans have no little interest in playing South Florida or East Carolina. Even the best P5 programs would eventually wither and die on the vine if their entire schedule was filled up with opponents that either 1) suck 2) aren't local or 3) carry no national cache.
Add to that the reputation of the area around the school. For people that didn't go to school there it can seem scary.
http://chirb.it/0sewnH My friend showed this to me a month ago. Context: John Lopez, an Aggie grad, claimed that some people don't go to UH games because the school is in a "bad" neighborhood, on 610 radio. Andre Ware happened to be listening, called in and gave them his opinion
Other schools have non-student fans. A good portion of Alabama fans did not go to the university. They just live or are from that area. Austin residents naturally navigate to being longhorn fans plus it's a big deal because of the "prestige" that comes with the athletic programs. Even Katy football has non-alumni fans lol. If UH continues winning, non-students and non-alumni will start going to the games. Growing up I liked Notre Dame even though I had never been to Indiana. Houston doesn't have that. They need to continue winning and stay relevant in the national media as well as develop stars in the NFL. In a city like Houston, you can't depend on students and alumni alone.
Bama reference so I have a reason to come into this thread! I think that the two scenarios you mentioned (UT and Bama) are a little different than UH's case. UT is in Austin and as we all know there are no professional sports teams in the area. Same for Alabama (No professional sports teams in the state). In Alabama, you pretty much choose a side when you're born (Bama or Auburn). Also, please don't get me started about the fans of Alabama who didn't go to Bama. I'm part of the 10%. (10% of Alabama fans who went to Bama vs 90% who didn't). The 90% are the crazy people you see on the news for shooting people after an iron bowl loss and poisoning trees. As for going to UH games, I still haven't been able to make it over for a game yet. I'm a huge college football fan so I would like to experience more college gameday atmospheres. As for the football program I'll state the obvious which has most likely already been said in this thread but UH needs to do everything they can to keep Tom Herman and switch conferences to the Big 12. Herman kicked our butt in the playoff and he's doing a terrific job coaching and recruiting this year.
Some people don't live near campus because they find the surrounding neighborhood to be a deterrent, and some people just plain don't go to the school as well for that reason. Walking from the science building to my car, on the other side of the stadium, at 10 o'clock at night never felt safe - even when I accompanied my classmates to their car. I was frequently accosted by strangers who didn't fit the student-body profile. There are dozens of blocks with boarded houses or empty lots - it stands out from the neighborhoods that many of the students come from. That whole area could use some beautification.
Alexander Duke, 3* DE from Bellaire HS Class of 2017, commits http://247sports.com/Player/Alexander-Duke-77801
UH has three articles on the main ESPN college football page. What is life? http://espn.go.com/college-football/ http://espn.go.com/college-football...g-careers-houston-tom-herman-major-applewhite http://espn.go.com/college-football...rs-quarterback-greg-ward-jr-gaining-attention http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/on-the-trail/insider/post?id=73412
You are correct. No other major sport teams in the area attracts fans to the collegiate sports. But winning and having prestige/history/recognition play a huge role. You pointed this out by mentioning Auburn and Alabama but not UAB. There is also nothing unique about the game experience. I see they are trying things out but they need to catch on. I don't hear anybody say "Have you been in __________ at TDECU." Or "were you there when the Cougars did ____________". If they start next season by beating Oklahoma, that should get people's attention. In addition to keeping Herman and getting into the Big 12, you can't ignore the effect of proud alumni in the NFL. The only notable players from UH are Hayden and Keenum. Not good enough.
I think that'll grow as the recruiting and talent pool grows. Often, the well-known players in the NFL were also highly-recruited out of high school. We finally are getting access to those level of recruits with Herman. It was pretty awesome when Vollmer said UH during one of the primetime games this season. Down the road, I hope we see more of that.
He's a UH graduate and played 3 years here (as an absolute standout) vs one mediocre year at WVU. He's a Cougar no matter what anyone thinks. Knowing what we know now about Levine, I can totally see why 3 senior leaders said "eff this" and jumped ship.
A bit off topic, but does anyone else think Kenneth Farrow has a chance to be a really good NFL RB? I've seen him on a few lists listed as a 7th round or undrafted guy, but I feel like he has a shot at going a lot higher.
I think he has a legit shot to have a solid 5-6 year NFL career. The real question is will he spend that with one team as a feature back (high end), or floating around as a journeyman (low end). There won't be a ton of buzz about him because of his measurables (short, low-end top speed, etc) and the offense/conference he plays in, but the dude is a great one-cut runner, tough as nails, hard to bring down, and can handle a 20 carry workload like it is nothing. I don't think he'll ever be a great pass catcher, but if he continues to get better in pass protection he will have a very solid case to be a mid-round pick.
Lopez needs to find him a new group of friends. Refuse to go to a coog game because of the stadium location?? Stay their scary asses at home
