Hell Yeah baby. Finally, I have been waiting and suffering for so long. Its only 25 but who cares lets all get drunk. Go COOGS!!! http://www.houstonchronicle.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3520776.html UH happy to say it has poll position Cougars ranked by AP voters for first time since '93 By MICHAEL MURPHY Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle It has taken more than a decade, but the Houston Cougars officially are back among the nation's better basketball teams. The latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, which was released Monday, has the Cougars at No. 25, the first time they have made the poll since Jan. 25, 1993, when Pat Foster's last team was ranked 25th with an 11-2 record. For the record, that was five coaches, three athletics directors and 367 games ago. "It's good to be ranked, but it really doesn't mean anything right now," said Houston coach Tom Penders. "It's good in terms of recruiting, exposure and media attention, and when it comes to the (NCAA) Tournament (selection process) in March, it might be a benefit. "I'll tell you one thing: These kids have earned it. But the next step for this team is to learn how to play as a Top 25 team, how to play with bull's-eyes on their backs and their fronts." In the last couple of weeks, the Cougars have been the hunters, beating No. 25 LSU on the road (84-83) and No. 15 Arizona (69-65) at sold-out Hofheinz Pavilion on national television. Oddly enough, in this week's rankings the Cougars are one spot behind Arizona (4-3). Texas, ranked No. 2 when the Longhorns lost to No. 1 Duke 97-66 on Saturday, dropped to No. 6 at 8-1. The Cougars (4-1) are preparing for a three-game road trip that will take them to South Alabama (Saturday), UNLV (Dec. 20) and North Texas (Dec. 23), and for the first time this season they expect to be fully healthy. Junior Lanny Smith, who missed Saturday's 68-46 victory over Sam Houston State because of an eye injury, has been cleared to practice. And he can't wait to take the court as the starting point guard for a nationally ranked team. "This is my first time being in the Top 25, so it's new to me," Smith said. "We can't relax or get complacent. We can enjoy this, but we can't be satisfied. And I don't think we will be. "We're coming in at 25, but we're striving to be higher than that. So I don't think anybody is going to be complacent. With guys like me and Brian Latham pushing them, and then coach Penders, guys won't relax."
Yeh, the official story behind the UH sign is kind of interesting. According to the university back in the 50's when UH played U of Texas in a football game. It was both schools first meeting of each other so UH's frat brought Shasta a live cougar to the game. On the way to the game one of the courgars paws was caught in a door, and one finger had to be cut off, which makes the sign. The sign was not UH's idea, some UT people found out about Shasta and came up with the sign to taunt U of H. UH lost the game and UH kids used the sign as a remberence tool. Ever since then it has been used.
It was once explained to me that it also meant f**k UT, since it's the UT sign with the middle finger raised.
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=105867 Haynboi is correct, as I explained in the thread above. My explaination is copied directly from the UH handbook.
I think they have a chance to stay on the board. The toughest part of their schedule is behind them. Memphis is tough, but otherwise we are clearly the class of the new C-USA.
now if we could just increase our ranking in US news and world report (I'm looking at you, permanent university fund)
ROFLMAO...btw, its good to be back on the national scene...We should be able to stay if we continue to win the way we're suppose to...
