Houston merits an invitation to Big 12

FORT WORTH — The Big 12 is going to expand, and much like TCU, a former brother in the Southwest Conference has earned its chance to be a part of the Power 5.

Once nicknamed “Cougar High,” the University of Houston will soon join the Big 12.

According to sources, the Big 12 is expected to announce that it will extend invitations to BYU, Houston, Central Florida and Cincinnati to join the league.

The Big 12 will actually consist of 12 schools. What a novel concept.

These invites are necessary in light of Texas and Oklahoma’s departure to the SEC. This announcement will likely alter the timeline of the Big 12’s future schedules in 2022.

Texas and Oklahoma are still under contract to remain with the Big 12 through the 2024-25 season, but this marriage was never expected to last that long.

The new schools could potentially join the Big 12 as early as next season, which would mean UT and OU will be in the SEC by this time next year.

Whether or not adding these four schools will keep the Big 12 as a Power 5 league, and ensure its status in the College Football Playoff, is unclear.

That will ultimately depend on what kind of new media rights contract the league can negotiate.

This was also the best option that existed for the Big 12.

No matter what anyone from Lubbock to Waco to Fort Worth says, adding Houston is a no-brainer.

It gives the league a presence, and an active point of sale, in the fourth largest city in the United States. Houston is the eighth largest media market in the country.

Texas Tech can boast a lot of alums who live in the greater Houston area, but not like the University of Houston.

Much like TCU, Houston was left out of the formation of the Big 12 in the mid 1990s and left to rebuild itself in hopes of one day inclusion into a power conference.

Houston has been a member of Conference USA since 1996, which basically became the American Athletic Conference in 2013.

The school subsidized its athletic department with $100 million between 2008 and 2014. It has since built loads of pretty new facilities to offer fans and recruits.

For far too long the football team was stuck playing in the badly outdated Astrodome when it needed to have an on-campus presence.

It moved into the new TDECU Stadium in 2014.

Since 2006, the football team has had good, to great, seasons under Art Briles, Kevin Sumlin and Tom Herman.

Those guys all left only because the team wasn’t in a power league. A place in the Big 12 will change that.

The school surprised everyone in college athletics when it enticed West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen to leave Morgantown, and a Power 5 job, for Houston in 2019.

The men’s basketball team under Kelvin Sampson has won at least 20 games in each of the last six seasons, made the last three NCAA Tournaments, and reached the Final Four this spring.

The school spent the money, and it’s built a good brand to enhance the value of the institution.

As a school, it features an enrollment of approximately 45,000. It has recently added a medical school, and it’s a state institution that is an R1 research school.

When a conference contemplates adding new members, those sorts of details can matter to particular university presidents.

Losing Oklahoma and Texas was not up to the Big 12, but the decision to add new members is theirs.

Adding BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and Central Florida is making the best out of a hard situation. Whether or not this will ensure the Big 12’s status as a Power 5 league remains to be seen.

Much like TCU more than 10 years ago, Houston earned this invite from the Big 12.