The NCAA conference realignment apocalypse almost started yesterday.
Texas A&M was set to move to the Southeastern Conference, but as a survival mechanism Baylor has threatened to sue. The litigation card is being waved because Baylor does not want to be abandoned.
The Aggies leaving the Big 12 could be a deciding factor if the Big 12 lives or dies. Big 12 schools like Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are flirting with the idea of a move to the Pacific-12.
But no BCS conference is dying to invite Baylor. The Big 12 is a modified reincarnation of the now-defunct Southwest Conference. When the SWC folded, UH, Texas Christian, Rice and Southern Methodist were demoted to leagues that make them ineligible to automatically qualify for a national championship or a BCS bowl game. Baylor sees the writing on the wall.
As it stands, there are six conferences that give teams an automatic qualification. If the Big 12 ceases to exist, UH could again be left out.
Whether it is in football, women’s basketball or softball, UH has consistently shown it can be competitive against schools from the power conferences. The Cougars belong in a better conference.
The UH Athletics Department and administration should consider going the unorthodox route.
TCU decided to transfer to the Big East. A university based out of Fort Worth will be traveling along the East coast for conference competition.
Many Houstonians are upset about A&M’s departure, but at least the Aggies playing southern schools makes sense. TCU playing schools like Pittsburgh and West Virginia does not.
It would be beneficial for the state if a combination of Texas universities formed to make a BCS conference. But the powerhouses like A&M and UT don’t want to budge. TCU seemed to know this. Given its interference with A&M, Baylor officials do too.
Greed is the root cause of this conference upheaval. The cool kids at the lunch table are a discriminating bunch. Conference USA and the schools in the other three non-AQ conferences have been repeatedly strong-armed out of opportunities to get promoted. So maybe UH should look to the East or West.
Ugh. OK. CEB, here's a free seminar in writing opinion pieces. Much of this material appeared in response to the Education editorial (which is to say, it was about education and appeared on the op ed page, not that it was an editorial about education), so feel free to refer back to that comment section for further information.
1) Please have an idea.
2) Express the idea, then stop.
3) Don't undermine your idea by providing the counter-case. That's my job, and rest assured, if there's a flaw in your argument I will find it and expose it in humiliating fashion. Putting the countercase in your editorial only incites me to anger and makes my reply more scathing than it would otherwise be.
4) Promulgate a policy, idea, strategy, et al. This is radical for newspaper op-ed pages in general, so don't think you're particularly delinquent in this area. You're doing readership a disservice by writing "bitch and moan" editorials that provide no solutions. Don't create the same worthless trash that appears in the WSJ op-ed page. The concept of an op-ed is to *lead* readership somewhere.
5) Give me data. Self-explanatory, but if you don't have empirical information to back up your suppositions you're starting with a flight of fancy. Put it in the 'reader submitted fiction' section.
6) Give me analysis. Take the data, and construct and argument from it. eg, in this article you could've started with the disparities in the athletic budgets among AQ schools in Texas to non-AQ schools in Texas over the available history. You've got my student services money backing you up – apply that leverage by making a phone call to the UH AD.
7) Believe in your case. I don't care about your opinion if you don't – if you care, it *will* come across in your writing.
8) Don't try to be like me. I'm an obnoxious raving lunatic. Be charitable to the other side; grant them their premises; accept counter-arguments and analyze them thoughtfully (if appropriate; this doesn't violate rule 3).
9) Write about something relevant. (This piece was a big step in the right direction – but again, the CEB failed to say anything meaningful. Just because it's an opinion-by-committee doesn't mean it has to be a camel).
10) Don't be afraid to offend people. If your case is stated respectfully, charitably and truthfully those whose opinions are worthwhile will accept your argument even if they disagree, and the rest of the people are worthless. Expect that many people you respect will unfortunately end up in the second category. Don't worry, there is a large minority of powerful people who quietly respect excellence, regardless of whether they agree with it.
A cowardly internet troll who hides his identity behind the pseudonym of a fictional character? Your advice is about as useful as Bernie Madoff giving a lecture on ethics.
the above commenter is a douche
mike wazowski must have gotten an A in comp 1 or something
most of the stuff he claimed is either wrong or completely antiquated
Texas will not join the Pac-12 since Texas expects everything to be given to them and bring nothing to the table. So the Big 12 will remain intact but UH probably might not want to join such an unequal revenue sharing agreement.
I'm interested in what the ed. board thinks is the unorthodox route. Pray the MWC gets an AQ and then join?