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Wow! Thank you Coach Sampson.

Article from the Enquirer if you can believe it...

Quote:

Sampson has been Houston's head coach since 2014, and the Bearcats have finished first, second or third in the conference in each of the past five seasons.

A year-by-year look at where Houston, Cincinnati and UConn have finished in the conference since Sampson arrived:

2018-19:

1. UH 16-2

2. UC 14-4

T-9. UConn 6-12

2017-18:

1. UC 16-2

T-2. UH 14-4

8. UConn 7-11

2016-17: (SMU finished 1st)

2. UC 16-2

3. UH 12-6

T-5. UConn 9-9

2015-16: (Temple finished 1st; SMU finished 2nd)

T-3. UH 12-6

T-3. UC 12-6

6. UConn 11-7

2014-15: (SMU finished 1st; Tulsa finished 2nd)

T-3. UC 13-5

T-5. UConn 10-8

10. UH 4-14

UC also has won back-to-back AAC Tournament championships.

My Friend Kelvin

More tweets from Houston Chronicle Reporter....

(06-26-2019 06:44 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Wow! Thank you Coach Sampson.

Article from the Enquirer if you can believe it...

Quote:

Sampson has been Houston's head coach since 2014, and the Bearcats have finished first, second or third in the conference in each of the past five seasons.

A year-by-year look at where Houston, Cincinnati and UConn have finished in the conference since Sampson arrived:

2018-19:

1. UH 16-2

2. UC 14-4

T-9. UConn 6-12

2017-18:

1. UC 16-2

T-2. UH 14-4

8. UConn 7-11

2016-17: (SMU finished 1st)

2. UC 16-2

3. UH 12-6

T-5. UConn 9-9

2015-16: (Temple finished 1st; SMU finished 2nd)

T-3. UH 12-6

T-3. UC 12-6

6. UConn 11-7

2014-15: (SMU finished 1st; Tulsa finished 2nd)

T-3. UC 13-5

T-5. UConn 10-8

10. UH 4-14

UC also has won back-to-back AAC Tournament championships.

My Friend Kelvin

More tweets from Houston Chronicle Reporter....

Interesting tweets; thanks for sharing. His point is well taken, not just in basketball. Bearcat performances against UCONN in football have been dominating and blowing out UCONN in the AAC baseball tournament was icing on the cake. Truthfully, with the exception of that surprising national championship run in men's basketball and their always great women's teams, they've not achieved anywhere near UC's level since the formation of the American Conference.

I'm super happy with the way Sampson has revitalized the Houston program. They had far too rich a history to be a doormat in the AAC. If Houston, Memphis, WSU, Temple and UC can be the programs they're supposed to be year in and year out, this will be one heck of a basketball conference for years to come.

Aresco on 2 radio interviews mentioned that UConn really hasn't done much the last 4 years, LOL. But I hope they improve with their move.

(06-28-2019 01:31 PM)MickMack Wrote:  I'm super happy with the way Sampson has revitalized the Houston program. They had far too rich a history to be a doormat in the AAC. If Houston, Memphis, WSU, Temple and UC can be the programs they're supposed to be year in and year out, this will be one heck of a basketball conference for years to come.

They got 5 Star Quentin Grimes as a transfer from Kansas.

Lots of UConn butthurt in that Twitter thread. They seem to have a difficult time with being irrelevant. Serious amount of denial going on.

Hope the NBE move works out for them.

(06-28-2019 01:31 PM)MickMack Wrote:  I'm super happy with the way Sampson has revitalized the Houston program. They had far too rich a history to be a doormat in the AAC. If Houston, Memphis, WSU, Temple and UC can be the programs they're supposed to be year in and year out, this will be one heck of a basketball conference for years to come.

Can't say I agree with this. If UC wants to get into a better conference they need to stand out as the class of not just the AAC but all non-P5 conferences. Houston is a sleeping giant with a Top 5 media market.

(07-02-2019 07:41 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(06-28-2019 01:31 PM)MickMack Wrote:  I'm super happy with the way Sampson has revitalized the Houston program. They had far too rich a history to be a doormat in the AAC. If Houston, Memphis, WSU, Temple and UC can be the programs they're supposed to be year in and year out, this will be one heck of a basketball conference for years to come.

Can't say I agree with this. If UC wants to get into a better conference they need to stand out as the class of not just the AAC but all non-P5 conferences. Houston is a sleeping giant with a Top 5 media market.

UC’s value isn’t going to increase if the competition stinks. Being the top program while everyone else is also very good is important.

(07-02-2019 09:19 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  

(07-02-2019 07:41 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(06-28-2019 01:31 PM)MickMack Wrote:  I'm super happy with the way Sampson has revitalized the Houston program. They had far too rich a history to be a doormat in the AAC. If Houston, Memphis, WSU, Temple and UC can be the programs they're supposed to be year in and year out, this will be one heck of a basketball conference for years to come.

Can't say I agree with this. If UC wants to get into a better conference they need to stand out as the class of not just the AAC but all non-P5 conferences. Houston is a sleeping giant with a Top 5 media market.

UC’s value isn’t going to increase if the competition stinks. Being the top program while everyone else is also very good is important.

Houston has come on strong recently and demonstrated some staying power in football and basketball in a major media market. A cautionary note for them? Their dependence upon one major donor to athletics. That is high reward but high risk if said donor has a falling out with the leadership at the institution; has personal, financial or legal problems etc., (Papa John comes to mind).

That financial dependence will be noted when the conference realignment cycle resumes. P5 member universities will question the sustainability of Houston's newfound success in evaluating its case by examining dated facilities and relatively poor attendance prior to his involvement.

As a highly endowed, public research university, UC holds more tickets, institutionally, in the realignment sweepstakes than Houston.

(07-02-2019 12:59 PM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(07-02-2019 09:19 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  

(07-02-2019 07:41 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(06-28-2019 01:31 PM)MickMack Wrote:  I'm super happy with the way Sampson has revitalized the Houston program. They had far too rich a history to be a doormat in the AAC. If Houston, Memphis, WSU, Temple and UC can be the programs they're supposed to be year in and year out, this will be one heck of a basketball conference for years to come.

Can't say I agree with this. If UC wants to get into a better conference they need to stand out as the class of not just the AAC but all non-P5 conferences. Houston is a sleeping giant with a Top 5 media market.

UC’s value isn’t going to increase if the competition stinks. Being the top program while everyone else is also very good is important.

Houston has come on strong recently and demonstrated some staying power in football and basketball in a major media market. A cautionary note for them? Their dependence upon one major donor to athletics. That is high reward but high risk if said donor has a falling out with the leadership at the institution; has personal, financial or legal problems etc., (Papa John comes to mind).

That financial dependence will be noted when the conference realignment cycle resumes. P5 member universities will question the sustainability of Houston's newfound success in evaluating its case by examining dated facilities and relatively poor attendance prior to his involvement.

As a highly endowed, public research university, UC holds more tickets, institutionally, in the realignment sweepstakes than Houston.

I agree that Houston has done a great job lately to become competitive and grow their products, but, how enticing can they be to P5 conferences when they have to compete with Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor and Texas A&M for viewers and fans?

(07-02-2019 01:37 PM)cpawstoney Wrote:  

(07-02-2019 12:59 PM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(07-02-2019 09:19 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  

(07-02-2019 07:41 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(06-28-2019 01:31 PM)MickMack Wrote:  I'm super happy with the way Sampson has revitalized the Houston program. They had far too rich a history to be a doormat in the AAC. If Houston, Memphis, WSU, Temple and UC can be the programs they're supposed to be year in and year out, this will be one heck of a basketball conference for years to come.

Can't say I agree with this. If UC wants to get into a better conference they need to stand out as the class of not just the AAC but all non-P5 conferences. Houston is a sleeping giant with a Top 5 media market.

UC’s value isn’t going to increase if the competition stinks. Being the top program while everyone else is also very good is important.

Houston has come on strong recently and demonstrated some staying power in football and basketball in a major media market. A cautionary note for them? Their dependence upon one major donor to athletics. That is high reward but high risk if said donor has a falling out with the leadership at the institution; has personal, financial or legal problems etc., (Papa John comes to mind).

That financial dependence will be noted when the conference realignment cycle resumes. P5 member universities will question the sustainability of Houston's newfound success in evaluating its case by examining dated facilities and relatively poor attendance prior to his involvement.

As a highly endowed, public research university, UC holds more tickets, institutionally, in the realignment sweepstakes than Houston.

I agree that Houston has done a great job lately to become competitive and grow their products, but, how enticing can they be to P5 conferences when they have to compete with Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor and Texas A&M for viewers and fans?

Same could be said for us though with Ohio State, UK, Notre Dame, and Xavier. Also, I don't think TCU, Baylor, and Texas Tech are that much of a factor in the Houston market. Their main competition is Texas, Texas A&M, and pro sports.

I think if Houston had such a strong case for the B12 they would have been voted in during the expansion fiasco two summers ago. The B12 doesn't need more TX inventory for TV. The bigger issue perhaps is the perception, fair or not, that Houston is an overgrown commuter school and doesn't possess the research pedigree of a UT or Texas A&M.

Houston could be more attractive to the ACC in my mind--expanding the footprint into the nation's #3 metro, the central time zone and recruit rich Texas. But as we know, each school has a balance sheet of assets and liabilities when it comes to expansion.

I actually hope Sampson keeps it rolling in basketball. With UCONN out of the picture, it appears the trio of Cincinnati, Memphis and Houston will be the high profile, ranked programs slugging it out for dominance. Wichita and Temple should be in the mix too. In the short run, that's much stronger than the Pac 12 at the top and keeps the basketball profile at the high major level.

The Big XII didn't expand because Texas and Oklahoma did't want to commit to the league post 2025. I think the Big Ten takes a serious run at Oklahoma and Kansas, Texas can do what they want but I wouldn't be shocked to see them go the Notre Dame path of ACC/Indy football. That makes way too much sense for Texas as they keep the longhorn network, puts them on the same category in football as Notre Dame, academically associates themselves with Duke, UNC, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Notre Dame, UVA, and other top end research schools instead of the low tier schools in the Big XII. Remember the ACC is all in with ESPN so they can easily work with Texas to make it happen. Longhorns could play Notre Dame every season and then four to six ACC games while filling out the rest of their schedule with Okahoma and other regional opponents.

Houston and Cincinnati are the top expansion candidates for a reworked Big XII by a lot. My second tier includes Memphis, USF, UCF, Colorado State, and Air Force. BYU is either in or out but that comes down to who wants to work with them.

(07-02-2019 01:37 PM)cpawstoney Wrote:  

(07-02-2019 12:59 PM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(07-02-2019 09:19 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  

(07-02-2019 07:41 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(06-28-2019 01:31 PM)MickMack Wrote:  I'm super happy with the way Sampson has revitalized the Houston program. They had far too rich a history to be a doormat in the AAC. If Houston, Memphis, WSU, Temple and UC can be the programs they're supposed to be year in and year out, this will be one heck of a basketball conference for years to come.

Can't say I agree with this. If UC wants to get into a better conference they need to stand out as the class of not just the AAC but all non-P5 conferences. Houston is a sleeping giant with a Top 5 media market.

UC’s value isn’t going to increase if the competition stinks. Being the top program while everyone else is also very good is important.

Houston has come on strong recently and demonstrated some staying power in football and basketball in a major media market. A cautionary note for them? Their dependence upon one major donor to athletics. That is high reward but high risk if said donor has a falling out with the leadership at the institution; has personal, financial or legal problems etc., (Papa John comes to mind).

That financial dependence will be noted when the conference realignment cycle resumes. P5 member universities will question the sustainability of Houston's newfound success in evaluating its case by examining dated facilities and relatively poor attendance prior to his involvement.

As a highly endowed, public research university, UC holds more tickets, institutionally, in the realignment sweepstakes than Houston.

I agree that Houston has done a great job lately to become competitive and grow their products, but, how enticing can they be to P5 conferences when they have to compete with Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor and Texas A&M for viewers and fans?

I don't know anything about Houston. How is their attendance for FB & BB? TV ratings in the Houston market? TV ratings in TX outside the Houston metro?

I don't claim to know anything, but during the BIG 12 song and dance they seemed to prefer teams to be spread out rather than close together. Same thing with the B1G.

We keep saying this team or that team is too far away for our AAC expansion, but for other conferences that was a plus.

(06-28-2019 01:43 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  But I hope they improve with their move.

I really don't care whether or not UConn improves.

(07-05-2019 08:52 AM)Ring of Black Wrote:  

(06-28-2019 01:43 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  But I hope they improve with their move.

I really don't care whether or not UConn improves.

I hope they get worse. As bad as they are leaving unbalances the football divisions.

(07-05-2019 08:59 AM)doss2 Wrote:  

(07-05-2019 08:52 AM)Ring of Black Wrote:  

(06-28-2019 01:43 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  But I hope they improve with their move.

I really don't care whether or not UConn improves.

I hope they get worse. As bad as they are leaving unbalances the football divisions.

After the '19-'20 athletic year, UConn will mean as much to me as Pitt or Syracuse, which is pretty close to nothing.

(07-03-2019 07:39 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  The Big XII didn't expand because Texas and Oklahoma did't want to commit to the league post 2025. I think the Big Ten takes a serious run at Oklahoma and Kansas, Texas can do what they want but I wouldn't be shocked to see them go the Notre Dame path of ACC/Indy football. That makes way too much sense for Texas as they keep the longhorn network, puts them on the same category in football as Notre Dame, academically associates themselves with Duke, UNC, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Notre Dame, UVA, and other top end research schools instead of the low tier schools in the Big XII. Remember the ACC is all in with ESPN so they can easily work with Texas to make it happen. Longhorns could play Notre Dame every season and then four to six ACC games while filling out the rest of their schedule with Okahoma and other regional opponents.

Houston and Cincinnati are the top expansion candidates for a reworked Big XII by a lot. My second tier includes Memphis, USF, UCF, Colorado State, and Air Force. BYU is either in or out but that comes down to who wants to work with them.

What scares me is UH and BYU. If just two teams need replaced in the B12, I think UH and BYU get that nod, esp. if Texas is gone. Sure, if BYU doesn't budge then we are up next but I bet BYU will do what it takes to join at that point. I think between UH, BYU, and UC, if we are talking B12, we are odd man out. Now, if Kansas also goes, then yes, I believe UC is option #3 at that point.

(07-05-2019 02:49 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  

(07-03-2019 07:39 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  The Big XII didn't expand because Texas and Oklahoma did't want to commit to the league post 2025. I think the Big Ten takes a serious run at Oklahoma and Kansas, Texas can do what they want but I wouldn't be shocked to see them go the Notre Dame path of ACC/Indy football. That makes way too much sense for Texas as they keep the longhorn network, puts them on the same category in football as Notre Dame, academically associates themselves with Duke, UNC, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Notre Dame, UVA, and other top end research schools instead of the low tier schools in the Big XII. Remember the ACC is all in with ESPN so they can easily work with Texas to make it happen. Longhorns could play Notre Dame every season and then four to six ACC games while filling out the rest of their schedule with Okahoma and other regional opponents.

Houston and Cincinnati are the top expansion candidates for a reworked Big XII by a lot. My second tier includes Memphis, USF, UCF, Colorado State, and Air Force. BYU is either in or out but that comes down to who wants to work with them.

What scares me is UH and BYU. If just two teams need replaced in the B12, I think UH and BYU get that nod, esp. if Texas is gone. Sure, if BYU doesn't budge then we are up next but I bet BYU will do what it takes to join at that point. I think between UH, BYU, and UC, if we are talking B12, we are odd man out. Now, if Kansas also goes, then yes, I believe UC is option #3 at that point.

You're talking 6 seasons from now so a lot can happen between now and then. That's why it is critical for Cincinnati football to make a statement over the next several years while Coach Fick is here. If you think about it, we've not made any noise on the national level since Brian Kelly. UCF and Houston have been the bell cows in football in the American Conference due to their big bowl wins. We have an opportunity to put ourselves in that conversation if we can keep the train rollin' and get to a NY6 and win it. If we do that, and you factor in our recruiting/market area and our hoops program, then we are right there as the top program to snag.