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Pete Thamel - uber Root Fanboy of Syracuse - is dismissive of the University of Houston.
In the great arc of Conference Realignment, neither BC, Syracuse, Louisville, TCU or Pitt ... really ... are the Best Strategic Plan for a ProStructure = which is my view of where the P5 has gone. Syracuse is a piss-ant town that Institutional Lenders avoid and the academics are a myth. Elon and Davidson types draw more affluent Greater NYC suburban kids these days than the Proportion SU used to get.
They play in antiquated mausoleum Carrier Dome - with NO NYS grants or infrastructure aid available in any foreseeable political climate. FanBase? That push for being NYC team? BC has similarly gone to their hole. But the P5 conference label has saved them; floated them.
WE - UConn - have a far more expansive potential as a State U if we had the P5. We did not get it because Louisville pumped fraudulent muni money into glitz facilities and cheater coaches; and Rutgers had a simple land comparative advantage. Etc.
Looking down your nose at Houston (particularly his mystery B12 source) is silly. They should work every angle. That is what BC did. And the stink did not last that long.
In a much bigger sense, this is just like when Edsall took flak for cancelling a scholarship in January. Journalists like Thamel will always be quick to criticize the smaller programs for making controversial moves to better themselves.
On the flip side they will always label similar moves by teams in power conferences as “bold” or even “revolutionary”.
It’s not like they are paying Greg Schiano 20M. Houston is making an intentional decision to buy a brand of football that has worked at another school with institutional and geographic barriers.
