I'm from Oklahoma and moved to Houston as a child. I was at the game yesterday. It was pretty awesome even tho my Sooners lost, in happy for Houston which is my city. Houston is going in the right direction, obviously. But don't get too far ahead. They remind me of the Boise State teams a couple years ago. Rarely playing a big game, but when they do, they win. Always the "underdog". And that's not a knock on Houston. They are doing really all they can with what's given to them. They need to join the Big12 ASAP. And hell, throw in Rice too.
Think about it this way. How will the Big 12 will look if they vote against UH now? The Cougars essentially dominated the best the Big 12 has to offer. The Big 12 will be ridiculed for voting against them as sore losers. If the Big 12 is serious about expanding and taking in quality athletic teams, UH is currently the best free agent football school on the market.
UH has played and defeated 5 ranked teams in the last 2 years. 2 of them were in the top 10. Over the last 10 years UH has put together a top 25 winning percentage. We aren't early 2000's Boise State. This is late stage evolution. This is the new normal. The bottom line is you need to add programs that make your conference more nationally competitive. UH is in rare company when it comes to that metric. Big 12 coaches are pooping their pants, but Big 12 Presidents and Administrators (the people who vote) are seeing stars.
Have to give credit where credit is due. UH surprised me as did OU. Didn't see the game but I saw the highlights, really impressive from UH. I was definitely wrong about how good they could be. Now the question will be whether or not they can maintain a perfect season to potentially get into a CFB.
It would be incredibly stupid for the Big 12 to pass on UH, especially considering the real threat of UT and OK leaving and the fact that the SEC now has a window to the local talent... Big 12 needs this market back and UH is the top non-conference school in the country right now, there is no debating that. The Big 12 has no choice but to go with UH.
Donny, I hear ya, and I'm sure a good number of schools in the Big12 are definitely thinking this way. However all it takes is three schools to say "no" and we're not getting an invite. I wish I felt more optimistic about it, but that's where I'm at with all of this right now. I guess only time will tell. My buddies who are OU alums were saying the same thing to me after the game. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts on it Donny. My fellow Coog's how you feeling about this?
KU, K-State, and Iowa State don't have much of a presence in Houston to begin with so not sure how much it would actually hurt them. You could actually argue that it would help recruiting with the increased exposure in Houston. But consensus was always gonna be a road hump, luckily for UH, Mike Gundy and the other coaches won't be making the final call. Really don't want to lose sight about what this will ultimately going to come down to, dollars and cents. Whatever school nets the conference the biggest short and long term gain (i.e. next TV Contract) will have the best shot.
Good for UH. I do wonder why OU was ranked so high. OU only lost twice last year, but they were really bad losses - clearly not elite. They lost some key players. And their recruiting classes are never top 10. The Big 12 is just bad now. Significant Big 12 victories only come against other Big 12 teams these days.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Okla-Hou: 4.0 overnight & 12.8 in Houston, market’s highest rating for an opening weekend cfb game across ESPN nets <a href="https://t.co/3Eyc4pjM63">pic.twitter.com/3Eyc4pjM63</a></p>— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNPR/status/772456978132135936">September 4, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
first houston team in a long time to go in with some hype and not disappoint. hearts of champions. congrats. now don't do something stupid like lose to Rice.
Woah now - you are a wee bit sensitive. I never said anything bad about UH. Why don't you argue with the logic of my argument instead of getting so frazzled?
UH offensive line that good?OU's Rush defense that bad? Never seen a QB have that much time to throw. Ward is a 5th/6th round guy at best I feel.
Also, I forgot - OU's wins against the 2 other best Big 12 teams (TCU and Baylor) were without those teams' starting QB's.
Ward is a really good college QB who simply isn't an NFL QB prospect, I honestly doubt he gets drafted at all. They are producing a lot of those lately it seems. The only chance Ward has in the NFL is if he moves to WR like Braxton did and it would be MUCH more difficult for him.
Baylor is in the playoff if Seth Russell doesn't get injured. We have a good shot at winning the Big 12 for the third time in four years. OU took a step back and their running game is overrated. I'll take Linwood/Jefferson/T Will/Hasty. Kam Martin transferred for a reason.
I was not a believer in Baylor last year, but I did want them to stay healthy and have their chance. Now, neither of us knows who is right, because key injuries screwed everything up (the worst part about sports). I haven't followed it closely, but I assume Baylor is a lot worse. Therefore, I disagree there. People don't understand. Longhorn fans think the school is destined to be Top 5 every year because of the school. No. They sucked for decades until Mack Brown came in. College football is about the freakin' coach. Baylor would have been nothing without Briles. UH would be nothing without Herman. It's all about the coach. You can't settle for a second tier coach if you want to compete for a championship. A second tier coach will not get it done - you need a top, elite coach.
