I just like the post about being true blue UH fans when Rice is blue…
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Thanks for clarifying because I heard that we had an opportunity to be in the SEC at one point.
Rice put big pressure on old rival LSU to vote against us and try to sway other schools when we were being strongly considered for SEC in late 50s and early 60s…They also worked very hard to keep us out of SWC until Darrell Royal and Texas forced the issue by pressuring everyone BUT Rice to vote for us, which they finally did…We can NEVER beat Rice bad enough to satisfy me…or Coach Yeoman.
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we had discussions with them in the sixties but no invitation was ever extended. in hind site, we should have worked harder on the sec but we really wanted the swc.
To be fair, I don’t think anyone at that time saw the direction where college football and TV would be headed at that time. I mean how could they? So when we made it to the SWC it seemed great. But then everything changed in two decades, and we were ill-equipped and ill-prepared to deal with the changes.
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Okay. I will say this again because it was not publicized at all, and shockingly few UH alums know of it…
I served on the Athletics Advisory Board from 87-94. Stan Binion and I were the two Board of Regent Nominees representing the BOR. We had an overview function of approving budgets, scholastics, hiring and firing coaches, and a macro guidance of the Athletic Department.
Rudy Davalos (AD and head of the Advisory Board) called me on a Wednesday Night (in 91 I think), calling an Emergency Meeting on Friday. We all showed up, and Rudy informed us that UH had been extended an offer to join the SEC along with A&M. We voted “Yes” 12-0. A &M and UH were to hold a joint news conference at 10am Monday to announce the move.
Well…A&M fish tailed. IMO, this weekend the Big 12 was formed in a smoke filled back room. No question. A&M cut the deal with Texas, preventing us from going to the SEC. IMO, we were probably on the inside track to join the Big12, but Governor Richards and Lt. Governor Bullock (Baylor/TT), exercised enough power to screw us out of the deal. We limped along in the SWC for the next year, while they “officially” formed the Big 12, but the die had been cast.
I was there. This happened.
And as if I didn’t hate all these ***holes enough, this is what they did to us.
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Wow!
Thanks for sharing the “Real Deal”, Ken
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We only have ourselves to blame.
We knew that all the former SWC schools were snakes in the grass.
We can not trust them, their hacks in the Statehouse or their mealy-mouthed lawyers.
We had to fight hard and fight dirty.
We had weak administrators in the final days of the SWC.
We have alumni who care but with not enough money or clout.
We did not have enough community backing.
The lesson:
One day they will be another fight. We will need to be ready and we need to remember.
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WOW
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So is the fault more with UT or A&M? This far narrative that seems to have most traction on this board is that UT is the devil incarnate and the reason why UH wasn’t invited to join the Big 12. Do you have any inside info on UT role?
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And that, my friends, is why so many true blue coogfans hold Anne Richards in such low esteem.
As an elected official, it’s her job to support and advance the interests of our PUBLIC universities like UH, not a private CHURCH SCHOOL like Baylor.
Sad.
And to think that there are likely people on this board that voted for her and even admire her in the face of that.
How insane!
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Didn’t like her, but, can’t blame Ann Richards for wanting to help her school and pull them out of the doormat status that they were in.
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From what I have read it was not so much Ann as it was the lt.gov Bob Bullock (baylor grad) and speaker of house Junell (tech grad) , were threatening to hold up the whole thing if Baylor and Tech were not included.
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I can understand Tech, but I can’t understand them supporting a dang church school like Baylor over one of the public universities which they, as government officials, are supposed to be looking after in their elected capacity.
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And why true bluehair fans hold her in high esteem.
I can blame her !!
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The only reason why I don’t buy the the Ann Richards angle is because we have a well connected, highly esteemed poster here who says that is not what happened.
I will not mention his name in this thread he can speak for himself.
There is no doubt about his credentials or his Coog loyalty. I have no answers but I trust him.
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Yes I feel like the Ann Richards thing has been debunked more than once. It was basically all Bullock who corralled everything and made it happen. At least according to basically every source in this matter.
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From most of what I heard during the Big 12 formation was the original plan was for 2 SWC schools only to join the Big 8 schools. Then the move to 4 schools became a political issue with Tech and BU forcing their way in over other schools like UH.
Richards may not have been as active in the process, but she went to BU so she does not get off the hook, guilty by association for me.
One issue I have seen discussed many years back was the addition of a private school. All the major conferences have at least one private school (USC, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Miami, etc.) to keep the conference from being a public entity. Rumors were the private school protected the conference from some public records issues. I am not a lawyer so I do not know if this is fact or rumor. IT would be interesting if there are lawyers in the sports field that knew more on it.
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The Big 8 didn’t have any private schools, didn’t seem to be a problem for them.