Has the AD said so?
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I donât know that thatâs necessarily it. The only conference with which we fit well geographically is the Big 12, and they didnât expand because the networks didnât want to pay more, that and the out-of-state league teams opposed us. Weâll have to see what happens when the contracts are up in about five more years. If the Big 12 implodes or at least loses 2-3 schools, my guess is the PAC 12 will try to get a foothold by adding UH, Tech, Oklahoma State, and possibly TCU. Doing so would give them the #5 and #8 DMAs along with the central time zone, better access to Texas recruits, and three strong athletic programsâsix Top 25 football finishes in the last three years and six NCAA Tournament appearances in that same time.
Reason the networks didnât want expansion was because it was looking like the 2 best candidates were 2 AAC schools. My guess would be UH and Cincinnati. They were part of the Group A from the tv deal that the AAC signed with ESPN. Thereâs a clause in the contract that states that if 2 or more Group A schools left or one Group A and one Group B left, the Tv deal could be dissolved. So not only would the networks pay more for UH and Cincinnati by having them as Big 12 members but they would lose the rest of the AAC content. At that point Memphis had shown that they could compete in football and had gotten CFP rankings, UH had won a new year 6 bowl by beating Florida State, UConn had won a National title in menâs basketball and UCF won a BCS bowl in the leagues first year. The league had leverage at that point and could have bargained for a better deal with ESPN, NBC or CBS sports.
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This is the only way I see UH is the Pac-12. Iâm not sure why everyone has a love affair with it. Arizona didnât draw any casual fans this year and if youâre going to chalk it up to an 11am start then do you expect fans to stay up til 9 to watch a late kickoff?
Yes the Pac-12 has moved some start times earlier but there are schools which will still want a traditional 7pm pacific kick and weekday basketball would be really interesting.
Unless you add somewhat more local schools (reasonably drivable) then youâre killing most chances to attend a road game.
Agree there are problems with joining the PAC. I donât know that there are any schools in that league that are clearly big draws. USC was here in '96, the year we won the inaugural C-USA title, and there was a crowd of about 15k. Travel would be difficult. And so on. But all that pales in comparison to the some 25 million additional dollars we would get, the exposure, the better recruiting, etc. And I would hope they would work it so that we would be playing schools like Tech, OSU, TCU, and Colorado more so than Washington State and Utah. But there would be some onerous travel regardless.
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Southwest Airlines flies to all PAC cities except Pullman Washington and Corvallis Oregon and nobody flies into those two âcitiesâ.
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Yes, they were crying badly and begging Texas, OU, TT and Okie State not to go to the PAC12âŠand when it didnât happen, the bears shut up quicklyâŠthey will sue this time if it happen againâŠ
The only certainty in the next round of realignment is that the g5-to-p5 piece will be the last to fall.
All those people wanting UCF to build a football franchise off this yearâs playoff based on some romantic notion about g5 respect ignore the implications.
I want UCF to lose.
If you say a stronger conference benefits us I agree. But a stronger conference overall, not one where one or two teams not called UH walk into p5 offices strutting playoff clippings.
And, yes, winning is really what matters. (See TCU)
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I live north of Seattle so the pac is ideal.
Corvallis is just south of Portland, and Eugene is just south of that. Pullman is not extremely far from Spokane. All totally reachable.
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Texas is more scared of the Easter Bunny than a lawsuit from Baylor.
Sorry.
If Texas wants to be gone, they are gone.
And I bring this up about every two years, but the PUF Fund just might own a couple of stock positionsâŠanyone ever look into just how much Disney stock they own ??? If they own 1%, they are a Controlling PartyâŠ
ESPN anyone ???
Donât put anything past the sneakiest, back stabbing, greediest liars in the worldâŠ
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Someone might have posted this already:
Top disney shareholders. Check who is at #3.
Mr. Aylwin B. Lewis went toâŠU of H
https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=366027&privcapId=245856385
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Thanks ChrisâŠshout out to Aylwin !!!
Pull some strings for your alma mater buddy !!!
You are welcome Kendall. I have no idea how Aylwin stacks up as a Coog supporter. I am curious to know.
It really does not matter how much of a Coog supporter he is, if ESPN management advises him (and other large shareholders) that adding the Coogs to a P5 with which ESPN has a deal, is not in the best interests of ESPN, there is no way the shareholders will force ESPN to support us.
Plus he will need support of a lot of other shareholders and board members to force the Coogs in, that will require asking for favors, makkng deals etc, I doubt heâd think spending that kind of effort and political capital just to get UH into a P5, is worth the effort.
Hereâs an article on Mr. Lewis from the Daily Cougar in 2015:
UH alumnus, Potbelly CEO hopes to expand brand globally
Lewis is one of five successful Cougars that will be honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award at the 2015 Alumni Awards Gala May 2. at the Westin Houston. He juggles multiple hats as CEO and is also a board member at the Walt Disney Co. and Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
âItâs an amazing honor from an institution I hold in tremendous regard,â Lewis said. âThe education I received at the University was really the foundation of my career.â
Lewis said his undergraduate career at UH was an âexplosiveâ time in his life that taught him the skills he needed to be successful.
What the heck does the Original Poster mean that adding UH means adding a storied âJordanâ basketball program.
I know a few alums of a certain age that would have issues with that terminology.
And as sad as this may be we have not done much in basketball in over 30 years.
True we have a good coach but we are also always one year away.
Thank you for posting Patrick. It is always a bonus to have a U of H voice directly connected to the evil empire. How much is he still involved with U of H?
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Heâs come back to speak to Bauer students a few times and heâs usually mentioned on promotional material as being a distinguished alum so heâs probably still involved somehow with UH.
That is one more seat at that tableâŠ
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I couldnât agree moreâŠremember, Tillman was relatively quiet until he decided that he could make a real difference by jumping in with both feetâŠsame with the Moores.
I think that it is fantastic that this alum is in that position to make a difference in the future. Who knows, he could read this thread and jump into the deep endâŠ
Hey, itâs holiday season, and I can dream, right ?
And thanks guys for the wonderful posts !!!
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