Campus officials need to push for UH to join the Big 12 before we miss an opportunity to join a major conference.
ESPN has documents that say UH is in contention to join the Big 12 Conference. Also, Gordon Gee, the West Virginia president and one of three key members of the Big 12’s composition committee, once visited campus, which would seemingly point to consideration for a spot in the conference.
While on campus, Gee met with UH President and Chancellor Renu Khator for more than an hour regarding the Big 12 expansion. Gee was given a tour of the campus after that, which included the athletics facilities, and was presented with local television ratings for football games the Cougars participated in 2015.
By joining the Big 12, both Texas and the nation will acknowledge the quality of our athletic programs are and how much potential our academic programs have.
UH and Houston can definitely handle the pressure of being a part of a prestigious conference. The university that has expansions and renovations for the athletic facility in the pipeline settles in the city that stands fourth nationwide in terms of population, has thrived despite the recession and holds 26 Fortune 500 with a combined revenue of over $114 billion.
UH joining the Big 12 conference makes a lot of sense to me. Well, at least more sense than a school located in the southwestern part of the U.S. joining the Southeastern Conference. Texas A&M University did just that in 2012.
I haven’t even started talking about the football program, which finally got the nation’s recognition after a season with only one loss and a Peach Bowl win. There has never been a better time to cement our place among the state’s recognizable universities like the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University, Baylor University and Texas Christian University.
Head Coach Tom Herman is also ready to bring the program upward by talking about the opportunity to make the college-football playoffs this coming season.
It may seem unlikely to some, but Herman is determined to prove his football program is meant to be a great one. One way to prove that is by joining the Big 12 Conference and getting a better yearly schedule.
And this isn’t just about football; every athletic program will benefit from the conference. Besides the attention, this will help when it comes to donations.
UH can only hang on to last year’s success for so long. Joining the Big 12 will most certainly boost our recruiting class and give a competitive edge to compete with conference rivals and powerhouses such as the University of Oklahoma and UT.
Make no mistake, our student athletes, athletic programs and coaches are ready to take the next step. The only question is if the rest of the conference is ready for a Cougar takeover.
Opinion editor Frank Campos is a media production senior and may be reached at [email protected]
You should look up what a ‘feat’ is before you use it in the title of an article. It would be a massive feat for UH to join the Big 12. A huge achievement, a huge success. Maybe you’re trying to say that it wouldn’t be as hard as some assume, but that doesn’t make it a small feat.
Thanks, Pat, for letting us know. We’ve changed it to better suit the story. I hope you’ll find the headline is more appropriate now!
Full disclosure: I am an Aggie undergrad and a UH MBA. I’ll go double or nothing on my UH student debt that says UH does NOT get a Big 12 invite. The only reason the Big 12 would add schools is to launch a conference network. That just ain’t gonna happen as long as the Longhorn Network exists. The money for a TV partner would not be there to justify a Big 12 network minus UT. Secondly, even if the Big 12 did expand, why would they add another Texas team? If you are a TV exec, what is the incremental value of having a fifth team in Texas? People in Houston already watch Big 12 football.
On a related note- A&M left for the SEC because the SEC was serious about launching a conference network.
Just because its the best for UH does not mean its also what best for the Big 12. The case you are making is to people who are already convinced that UH should be in the Big 12. The case you need to make is why adding UH is important and necessary for the Big 12.
The best deal for UH would be to go to ACC20 Gulf division with FSU, Georgia Tech, Tulane, Houston and Baylor. .. with those 5 teams get your own Network with TBS/TNT that broadcasts 24/7 – 5 teams all sports from those colleges (it amounts to 15 minutes per sport per day) … ACC20 Network would retain primary broadcasting rights for Football, Basketball…
ACC20? Where did that come from?
The process of going toward Final 4’s in Conference Football 12/2 and Championships on 12/9. (Four Conferences with 4 Divisions of 5 teams)…