I would think Houston would be a great addition to the SEC. It has a big TV market for their new network, further SEC exposure in Texas and rich area of great high school football talent.

Houston also has a rich tradition with a Heisman winner and SWC Championships.

If I am the SEC, I go after Houston, Baylor and TCU and wrap up south and east Texas for the SEC.

(06-13-2014 06:04 PM)Hawkeye Fan Wrote:  I would think Houston would be a great addition to the SEC. It has a big TV market for their new network, further SEC exposure in Texas and rich area of great high school football talent.

Houston also has a rich tradition with a Heisman winner and SWC Championships.

If I am the SEC, I go after Houston, Baylor and TCU and wrap up south and east Texas for the SEC.

Houston and Texas A&M almost went to the SEC when the Southwest Conference died. Would have happened but A&M felt political pressure to join the Big 12. A&M and the SEC isn't interested in having Houston being as a partner. SMU maybe, but A&M doesn't need Houston for its market.

(06-13-2014 06:04 PM)Hawkeye Fan Wrote:  I would think Houston would be a great addition to the SEC. It has a big TV market for their new network, further SEC exposure in Texas and rich area of great high school football talent.

Houston also has a rich tradition with a Heisman winner and SWC Championships.

If I am the SEC, I go after Houston, Baylor and TCU and wrap up south and east Texas for the SEC.

I don't think the SEC takes another Texas school unless some miracle happens and they can get Texas. Oklahoma and Kansas.... sure. If they can get away from Oklahoma State and Kansas State.

No thanks; we already have Houston with A&M.

Houston doesn't 'bring' Houston anyways.

(06-13-2014 06:13 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Houston doesn't 'bring' Houston anyways.

No way for you to know this, but UH had the highest TV ratings in the city back in the SWC days before the Big 12 was announced.

Currently, ESPN seems to like us. Last year, we played;

BYU on ESPNews
UCF on ESPN2
Temple on ESPN regional

So far this year (with several telecasts TBD), those games have been upgraded to:

BYU on ESPN
UCF on ESPN
Temple on ESPNU

All of that said, I would be shocked if UH was SEC bound.

It's nothing against UofH. If it were purely based on who I liked to join the SEC I'd have taken Houston over anybody else in Texas.

Houston just isn't a potential or even likely SEC school.

Houston joins the SEC when hell freezes over or when A&M leaves. A&M would even prefer Baylor to Houston (or Tech).
Houston joins the Big 12 when hell freezes over or when TCU & Baylor drop football or UT leaves, whichever comes first.

They are underestimated. I wouldn't be surprised if they had more ex-students in Houston than anyone else. Houston was the 2nd largest school in the state until the late 80s or early 90s when A&M finally exceeded them. Their fans just aren't as passionate. But if UH wins, they come back. However, the SEC and Big 12 don't need them to be strong in Houston and neither A&M nor Texas wants them.

The SEC is pulling killer numbers in Houston. Adding another TX school in Houston doesn't help the conference.

Now going for a bigger slice of DFW may be in the cards for future expansion.

That's where someone like Okie State becomes interesting.

They are a 2 for one because they get the SEC into a new state, but they also have a large alumni group in DFW. That would give the SEC 3 big fan bases in DFW (A&M, OSU & Arkansas)

So when the time comes, I say see if the Pokes want to make a change.

(06-13-2014 08:13 PM)bullet Wrote:  Houston joins the SEC when hell freezes over or when A&M leaves. A&M would even prefer Baylor to Houston (or Tech).
Houston joins the Big 12 when hell freezes over or when TCU & Baylor drop football or UT leaves, whichever comes first.

They are underestimated. I wouldn't be surprised if they had more ex-students in Houston than anyone else. Houston was the 2nd largest school in the state until the late 80s or early 90s when A&M finally exceeded them. Their fans just aren't as passionate. But if UH wins, they come back. However, the SEC and Big 12 don't need them to be strong in Houston and neither A&M nor Texas wants them.

CFB was and is a regional sport built on natural rivalries, the 65 will find this out as attendance and regular season TV viewership drops. People want to talk around the water cooler with their office mates, about the upcoming big game or bragg a little about their team beating their other guys team. Its a simple formula that worked for over a century. Then the greed for money and power set in, these have distorted the market, as they always do. The way the new realignment is taking place conferences are realigning based on TV viewership markets, and some conferences exist out of the sheer necessity for survival i.e. the AAC in an environment that was set in motion mainly by Delany and his stooges in the B10. Decisions now being contemplated by all the P5 Commissioners are market driven, decisions that have to be made by the Presidents and Chancellors of these schools are mainly market driven to some extent because the Commissioners have their ears and they are presenting potential target future members to them behind close doors, I'm sure, that can potentially drive higher revenue . The question is, does market penetration trump the cultural and academic fit for the conference Presidents? That question has been answered with a resounding, yes, IMO just look at some of the schools that have moved (WVU, Utah, Syracuse, Pitt, Boston list goes on) It's a dilemma for the leaders of these schools. Monetarily they don't want to get left behind. With this said does Houston have a chance of being in a P5, the answer you would have to say is yes, just where is the question. Geographically Houston is a natural fit for the B12 or SEC. Culturally and I'm talking cultural student body make up which is 30% white, 25.8% Hispanic, 19.7 % Asian, 10.7% AA, 9.4% International with the 2nd most diversified major university campus in the country. Demographically it fits a PAC school student makeup profile (don't believe me, look at UCLA"s student body demographic makeup). Academic side Houston a Carnegie VHRU like new P12 member Utah, UH system endowment is about 662 million, Utah P12 member 668 million, Houston metro area population 6.2 million, Utah the state 2.866 million. Now if Houston can grow its market share, and sustain a viable program, the chances of being in a P5 is a real possibility within the next 10 years or less. Assuming the current academic trend and athletic program commitment is maintained.

For selfish reasons, I much rather Houston join the PAC

(06-13-2014 09:59 PM)BigHouston Wrote:  For selfish reasons, I much rather Houston join the PAC

So you have a shot of beating Washington State?

(06-13-2014 10:01 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(06-13-2014 09:59 PM)BigHouston Wrote:  For selfish reasons, I much rather Houston join the PAC

So you have a shot of beating Washington State?

Sure why not, they're a power program

(06-13-2014 10:01 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(06-13-2014 09:59 PM)BigHouston Wrote:  For selfish reasons, I much rather Houston join the PAC

So you have a shot of beating Washington State?

In the last 5 years, we've beaten

UCLA
Texas Tech
@ Okla St
@ Miss St
Penn State in a bowl

I don't see why Wash St would be a problem.

(06-13-2014 10:01 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(06-13-2014 09:59 PM)BigHouston Wrote:  For selfish reasons, I much rather Houston join the PAC

So you have a shot of beating Washington State?

Funny you mentioned that, because Houston got its cougar mascot from a former Washington State coach John Bender , who designated Houston teams mascot to be a Cougar like his former beloved Washington State Cougars who he coached for. So there is some history between the 2 schools. Northern California has a mountain a dormant volcano named Shasta (5th highest elevation in the state) just like the Houston Cougar mascot Shasta found that to be a interesting piece of trivia.

This won't end well. 40k students/200K+ alumni and those students/alumni couldn't drive an extra 5 miles to sell out 71K seat Texans stadium.

(06-14-2014 12:19 AM)BIgCatonProwl Wrote:  

(06-13-2014 10:01 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(06-13-2014 09:59 PM)BigHouston Wrote:  For selfish reasons, I much rather Houston join the PAC

So you have a shot of beating Washington State?

Funny you mentioned that, because Houston got its cougar mascot from a former Washington State coach John Bender , who designated Houston teams mascot to be a Cougar like his former beloved Washington State Cougars who he coached for. So there is some history between the 2 schools. Northern California has a mountain a dormant volcano named Shasta (5th highest elevation in the state) just like the Houston Cougar mascot Shasta found that to be a interesting piece of trivia.

That is some interesting trivia.

I like Houston. I grew up there. I still support Houston and Rice, but the simple truth is Houston has never carried large support from the local community. Even during the late 80's and early 90's they struggled for fan support. I remember when Andre Ware and the Cougars pounded SMU for 95 points in 1989, and there was only 20K in the dome. Houston beat Texas that season. They had an amazing offense.

I believe someday Houston could become a program the SEC might be interested in, but they have a lot of work to do before that ever happens. Every Texas team interested in the SEC needs to 1) beat the hell out of everyone on their schedule for several seasons in a row, 2) increase their attendance over 80,000 a game, and 3) garner more support from their region of Texas then both Texas and Texas A&M. Not an easy "To Do List".

Just my opinion.

Maybe back in the 60's may have been the case when they were seriously considering adding Houston, believe that ship has sailed, City of Houston is a NFL town. B12 makes sense geographically based on old alignment strategy, B12 has 3 Texas FB teams, don't need anymore, unless to backfill.
Based on the new realignment based on TV markets the P12/ACC (personally I prefer P12) make the most sense based on need to expand possible future TV markets. UH is about to finish building a new stadium with initial capacity to hold 40k with capability to go to 60k. If you look at the P12/ACC stadium capacity and attendance a majority of both conferences are within that range with the exception of a few programs who have much larger capacity and attendance and some smaller. Knowing what I know P12 has shown the most interest.

P.S. Personally I'm for staying in the American and build something special if we can get the TV revenue and become an accepted P6

(06-13-2014 09:18 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  The SEC is pulling killer numbers in Houston. Adding another TX school in Houston doesn't help the conference.

Now going for a bigger slice of DFW may be in the cards for future expansion.

That's where someone like Okie State becomes interesting.

They are a 2 for one because they get the SEC into a new state, but they also have a large alumni group in DFW. That would give the SEC 3 big fan bases in DFW (A&M, OSU & Arkansas)

So when the time comes, I say see if the Pokes want to make a change.

Bull... Houston would kill

Kill what?

SEC has plenty of presence in Houston already. The game is expanding markets, not creating redundancy.