UH Joins Big East!

The long and agonizing wait for AQ conference status is over at Cullen Blvd. Starting on July 1, 2013 the University of Houston will say goodbye to their charter membership in C-USA that they've had since the breakup of the SWC in 1996 and will join the Big East conference in all sports 

Coming to the Big East with them will be fellow C-USA schools SMU and Central Florida and football only members Boise State and San Diego State.  

"Over the last 32 years, the Big East Conference has constantly evolved along with the landscape of college athletics," said Big East Commissioner John Marinatto. "The inclusion of these five great Universities, which bring a unique blend of premier academics, top markets, strong athletics brands and outstanding competitive quality, marks the beginning of a new chapter in that evolution. We are proud to welcome these schools to the Big East family.

"Much like the conference as a whole, the Big East name -- though derived 32 years ago based on the geography of our founding members -- has evolved into a highly respected brand that transcends borders, boundaries or regions. It's national. Our membership makeup is now reflective of that."

UH President and Chancellor Renu Khator had this to say about the Cougars joining the Big East.

“I am honored and very pleased to accept the invitation to be a member of the Big East family,” Khator said. “Our vision at the University of Houston is to be a nationally competitive university in every field: research, student success and athletics. This affiliation gives us an opportunity to play in a nationally competitive environment and to show our talents on a national stage.

“This is a game-changer for us, and I know everybody here is very excited.”

We sure are President Khator.  The addition of UH, SMU,.Central Florida, Boise State and San Diego State brings the number of Big East football playing schools to 10 members as it seeks to add the two additional schools the conference needs in order to host a Big East championship game.

The rumblings about the Big East losing their AQ status when the current BCS contract expires at the end of that season are the least of our worries right now since we have other institutions trying to hire Kevin Sumlin away from us. 

Joining the Big East may help us retain his services.

The AQ conference status will make it easier to continue the progress toward upgrading Hofheinz Pavilion and constructing the new football stadium as part of UH president and chancellor Renu Khator's push for UH to have Tier One status in athletics to go hand in hand with the Tier One academic status.

We UH alums along with the school administration and current students are ecstatic about the news that we're finally members of an AQ conference again starting in 2013 and look forward to seeing the Coogs competing in Big East play in all sports.

2011 UH Cougar Watch- Ouch!

Now that I've gotten past my finite disappointment over the Coogs losing the C-USA Championship game and a BCS Sugar Bowl berth in that 49-28 upset Southern Miss sprung on them, time to reflect on what happened yesterday.

It's simple.  They picked a bad time to have a lousy day on offense and defense with a Southern Miss team that felt disrespected and more than ready.to play in front of a national television audience.

I hadn't felt that badly about a UH loss since a certain NCAA basketball title game in 1983.   Add to that pain burnt orange hateraid drinkers gloating about it and other BCS conference schools sniffing around our coach is only ratcheting up the anxiety level that UH fans are feeling right now..

There was some potential Black history that died with that upset loss.   Had the Coogs won the game Kevin Sumlin would have become the first African-American FBS head coach to lead a non-AQ school BCS buster squad.

Thanks to the job Sumlin has done in building on what Art Briles had done to resurrect the UH program, Texas A&M in the wake of them firing Mike Sherman wants to have a chat with him to see if he'll come up to College Station to coach the Aggies as they get ready to move to the SEC in 2012.

UH AD Mack Rhoades says they will do everything possible to keep him, and Coach K says that he's happy at UH.

"At this point in my career, I'm very happy at the University of Houston," Sumlin said. "I think there's a lot of things that can happen with us. I think the conference realignment issue is critical and the stadium issue is critical for us to move forward. And there are some limitations if those things don't happen."

But the facts are that the Cougars still had an amazing year and they are still going to a bowl game, it's just not the BCS one they wanted.  My 12-1 squad will head up I-45 to play Penn State in the Ticket City Bowl on January 2 in Dallas.


But like every other Cougar fan, student, player and alum, I think deep down  we'd all rather be going to New Orleans again.   But the Cotton Bowl will be the destination instead.