UH’s expected jump to Big 12 is win for city
News that university could join prominent conference latest milestone in its rise under Khator.
Don’t be surprised when, on a crisp October Friday evening two or three years from now, you encounter huge flocks of college football fans in their cardinal-andgold best, meandering around downtown or the Galleria, a teeth-clenching bird eyeing you fiercely from many a sweatshirt.
Iowa State University’s passionate traveling fan base has caught many a tourism department off guard with its formidable presence, if friendly demeanor. With the University of Houston and three other schools set to receive invitations to the Big 12 Conference, you can expect throngs of Cyclones, Horned Frogs, Red Raiders and others to visit Houston far more often.
And that’s why UH’s good news is good news for all of Houston.
The Chronicle’s Joseph Duarte reported Tuesday that Houston’s board of regents formally authorized UH Chancellor Renu Khator to pursue membership. A vote by Big 12 presidents to extend invitations could come as early as Friday.
Houston has tried unsuccessfully to join the Big 12 before, including an infuriating ordeal in 2016 when UH was considered a leading candidate but was rejected anyway when the conference decided to remain at 10 schools. Tilman Fertitta, the chair of UH’s board of regents, called the process “a total sham” and “the biggest ramrod, railroad, ever,” declaring, “we belong in the Big 12.”
He may be proven right soon, although given previous disappointments, plenty of Cougar faithful aren’t celebrating until it’s officially official. But reports by numerous outlets, including the Chronicle, say it’s happening at last, so we’re willing to tempt fate and take a moment to celebrate the University of Houston’s imminent achievement — and the many first downs it took to get here.
Renu Khator arrived in Houston with a cunning charm and irrepressible optimism about her goal of transforming a commuter school nicknamed “Cougar High” into a top-tier institution and sports powerhouse. From the beginning, Khator knew that UH’s academic rise, like that of many Texas universities, was tied to its athletic ascent. That’s why her improvements on campus — new residence halls and an $80 million investment in the student center — were accompanied by a new football stadium and renovated basketball arena.
While her dreams of Tier One status were quickly realized in 2011 after a designation from the Carnegie Foundation and UH’s medical school admitted its first class last year, the school still lags in the rankings of national research universities due in large part to its graduation rate. There’s still work to do, but the boost into the Big 12 is a testament to steady, relentless progress.
The Big Eight conference joined with Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor to form the Big 12 in 1994, but left half of the Southwest Conference — Houston and Rice included — behind.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma competing for national championships and A&M, Colorado and Kansas State pulling off memorable upsets, no conference outpaced the Big 12 for thrills or eyeballs. Thanks to internal politics and frustration over TV deals, four original members are today in other leagues, with two more — Texas and Oklahoma — headed to the SEC sometime in the next few years.
It’s true that the Big 12 that Houston appears poised to join isn’t exactly your big brother’s Big 12. But UH getting an invite, along with Central Florida, BYU and Cincinnati, is a reflection on the progress the school has made in Khator’s nearly 14 years at the helm.
Many universities will lose out as conferences realign in the never-ending chase for more money, but Khator appears to have deftly navigated this world of politics and profit, leveraging the sports entertainment industry to raise UH’s status.
Though the loss of Texas and OU to the SEC is likely to negatively impact the Big 12’s next TV deal, Houston moving from the American Athletic Conference will almost certainly mean millions more in revenue for the Cougars.
The imminent move will benefit both UH and the Big 12. With Texas A&M (and soon Texas) in the nation’s top football conference, and LSU’s considerable alumni base here, the Houston area has increasingly become SEC territory. Departing Oklahoma has won more than half of the conference’s football titles, and though Texas hasn’t won a Big 12 football championship since 2009, it’s still a prestigious program that draws high ratings.
Losing those schools hurts the Big 12. As Chronicle sports columnist Brian T. Smith succinctly put it last week: “The reeling Big 12 needs UH right now.”
Every current Big 12 school recruits in Houston; Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy said at a Monday press conference that a potential Big 12 presence in the nation’s fourth-largest city will widen the pool available to scout for talent.
“There’s a lot of people that play football down there, and it gives us numbers to recruit to,” Gundy said.
Most conference realignment decisions are based on football, but the revamped Big 12 conference ought to be a men’s basketball powerhouse. Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars, still basking in (but not resting on) their March Final Four run, will soon make regular trips to Kansas’ historic Allen Fieldhouse and Texas Tech’s deafening United Supermarkets Arena. Houston makes Big 12 men’s basketball better, and the women’s basketball program can be competitive.
Houston’s still-pretty-new TDECU Stadium and just-revamped Fertitta Center will soon host meaningful, “Power 5” league games.
An invitation to the Big 12, long overdue, is worth celebrating because of the Cougars’ impressive strides both on and off the field. With this move, Khator’s ambitious goals of moving an unranked school into the big leagues of academia and athletics score another win for the home team.