Good god just went through this entire thread and I now have a massive headache.


Why people mental masterbate things out of their control? Dunno.

All I know is I'm not believing sh*t until it's announced. Translation = if that day ever comes when Houston (like endless Memphis -UCF - ECU BE announcements...) gets an invite - sure I'll pop the champagne.

Until then, the only thing I care about is getting the stadium naming rights and winning CUSA next year.


Baylorfan - how is it that UofH - was a few years out of a top 10 finish - won the Heisman - had more National Publicity than the entire SouthWest Conference in Football - but still was on the outs? To me, it was a F'n crock of political sh*t that Ann Richards can rot in hell about.

Combining comments from several posts...

How the different teams handled the SWC breakup is very interesting.

Tech saw it as an opportunity to start over with something big and have made the most of it. They dedicated themselves to not be left behind in the new conference and have reached levels not previously achieved there.

Baylor on the other hand wasn't prepared for the change and got left in the dust. They've made some changes especially more recently, but they are so far behind most of the others, it may always be a challenge to them.

TCU took it as a major wake up call almost immediately. They had been comfortably riding along in the SWC without being too competitive most of the time there. Being left out made them re-examine their athletic goals and started changing their culture immediately, bringing them to a consistent level they hadn't been at for possibly decades.

Houston took it terribly. After fighting for many years to get into the SWC, usually being blocked by UT and Rice. After 25 years in the league, UH felt it was part of the group. Being left out, UH knew it still wasn't really part of the group. While I think UH made some right decisions afterward (joining CUSA instead of the WAC, bringing football back on campus), not enough was done get back to the level it once was at. I think UH is on the right track and hopefully on a similar track to TCU, just a few years behind them.

Rice is Rice. They've made some changes and some improvements, but I don't think the will and support will ever be there for them to consistently be a top contender.

SMU is interesting. They may be on track now and be a couple years behind UH who is a couple of years behind TCU. UH and SMU are building a little differently though. UH appears to be getting the fan support now, but hasn't had the dedicated money. SMU appears to be dedicating the money, but doesn't have the fan support yet. Will each eventually have both? We'll see.

(04-08-2011 12:58 PM)ShockerBob Wrote:  Baylorfan - how is it that UofH - was a few years out of a top 10 finish - won the Heisman - had more National Publicity than the entire SouthWest Conference in Football - but still was on the outs? To me, it was a F'n crock of political sh*t that Ann Richards can rot in hell about.

1- Because only 2 schools were targets for the Big 8 at the time. Politics helped us get in but that does not change the lack of argument for the left out 4.

2- It is not because of politics that UH was left in the SWC. The only thing that politics changed were the immediate fates of TT and BU. If BU didn't get in and UH did it would entirely have been about politics for UH to get in over a more lucrative BYU that was available or trying to bring Arky back.

3- Ann had nothing to do with the process, Bob Bullock did and he paved the way for BOTH TT and BU. So enough with the "rot in hell" bs.

4- Baylor was only 3 additional years removed from a SWC title team and had virtually the same conference record and didn't start sucking like UH did from 91 on. Add in a better fanbase & facilities and a team without NCAA probation and its a pretty logical pick to make at the time. I have yet to see a strong argument that holds water for why UH should have been in over us. Other than Andre Ware's heisman there isn't anything that is strongly in their corner.

5- If UH is relying on the sports results as their argument, Tech is the better replacement as they were worse than both UH and BU in the SWC.

6- I'd say A&M and UT had more pub on their own than UH.