Berry Tramel @BerryTramel · 15h15 hours ago
OU-Houston arrives with lots of stakes
OU-Houston arrives with lots of stakes
“There's not a place I go in this city that people don't know Houston and Oklahoma are playing in NRG” Stadium, said UH athletic director Hunter Yurachek. “There's an excitement unlike anything I've seen.”
Talk about fortuitous timing for Houston. The Cougars went 13-1 last season and beat Florida State 38-24 in the now-major Peach Bowl. Herman stayed in Houston, despite reports of Georgia and South Carolina trying to turn his head. Quarterback Greg Ward Jr. returns as a veteran senior playmaker.
And in July, the Big 12 announced it was back in the market for expansion candidates.
“That's part of the buzz going on right now for sure,” Yurachek said. “Our goal for awhile now has been to put ourselves in the best position possible to compete at the highest level. Potential door opening, potential opportunity to do that, you kind of feel a level of energy around our entire campus, anticipation tied to the game, tied to the talk of Big 12 expansion. Just a phenomenal level of energy on our campus.”
The outcome of the OU-Houston game shouldn't affect expansion talks. You can't make such huge decisions based on one scoreboard on a particular Saturday. But obviously the game is vital to UH's profile as a legit contender to join a college football power conference.
“We're doing everything we can do,” Houston board of regents chairman Tilman Fertitta said Thursday during a press conference to announce his $20 million donation to renovate UH's basketball arena. “We think in the next 60-90 days, it will all be over and hopefully the University of Houston will be in the Big 12.
“I think there is a whole lot of support out there. I just don't see how you can't say Houston when it's all over with.”
Well, the six non-Texas schools can see it. Especially OU and OSU, which fear that Big 12 membership could galvanize the Houston program the way it did TCU's. Even the Texas schools, despite public support from Texas Tech and the University of Texas, have to have qualms about adding a fifth school from south of the Red River.
“I feel a lot of the (Big 12) presidents feel the league is Texas heavy already,” Iowa State president Steve Leath told the Ames Tribune last month. “It's a little problematic … all I can say on that is they will get a fair shake. They certainly have a lot of factors we're interested in.”
Houston absolutely would fill the short-term void that the Big 12 seeks, of better football. A Houston/Brigham Young combination would increase the league's football status immediately.
And Houston has a ready answer for those who wonder if the Cougars could inflict recruiting damage onto fellow Big 12 schools. According to figures compiled by UH, the Big 12 has increasingly lost Texas high school recruits to the SEC, since Texas A&M joined that league in 2012. In 2010, SEC schools signed only three of the top 50 Texans. In 2016, SEC schools signed 20 of the top 50 Texans, and A&M accounted for just six of those 20.
“If I remember correctly, one of President (David) Boren's comments was, he was looking for a member that would make the Big 12 competitively better,” Yurachek said.
“Concern over Houston, what that could mean, shows we could bring a different level of competitiveness. If you're a football coach and you want a metric that can help you get in the College Football Playoff, playing an opponent the quality of Houston …”
Yes, UH would get some recruits away from Big 12 schools. UH also would get some recruits away from SEC schools.
“They're all pulling kids out of the area,” Yurachek said. “Competition is a great thing.
“You want to make your conference better. You don't want to bring someone who makes your conference weaker.”
And so arrives the OU-Houston drama, with so much more at stake than just the outcome of a football game. Except to the people who will decide the outcome.
“The furthest thing from any of our players' mind is the Big 12,” Yurachek said. The game is an “opportunity to prove ourselves against one of the best programs in the country and one of the best programs in the history of college football.
“If we win that game, we still have 11 more to play. If we lose that game, still we have 11 more to play. To say that has any bearing on any presidential vote would be reaching.”
