Wouldn’t be funny if the Pac 12 needed UH’s basketball more than its football for conference expansion? The conference has fallen behind the American in RPI and is finger nail close in Sagarin. UCLA is a dumpster fire and Arizona still may have to fire its coach once its assistant is on trial with the FBI in February. Outside of Dana Altman (excluding Sean Miller who is in hot water), the conference has a group of unproven and unimpressive coaches that don’t hold a candle to Kelvin Sampson. Five more years of basketball dominance would not hurt UH’s chances…just saying.
The ONLY reason Kansas gets mentioned as having a soft landing spot in the Big 10 when/if the Big 12 implodes is because of its awesome hoops program.
it wouldn’t hurt our chances to go deep into the ncaa tourney for the next three years and to fill our arena on a consistent basis…TV ratings of course need to be up there as well…we have not picked up the national following yet to get the espn/2 slot vs espn news and 3 but if we can get past cinci and ucf unbeaten we may get some real attention nationally
Then we will get some national buzz around the program…when they talk about your school on TV from the start of football season to the end of March…that’s when you get the eyebrows raised from someone like the pac 12
Well, that…AND the fact that 1) Kansas is AAU, 2) it’s a flagship state university, AND 3) it would be within or adjacent to the B1G’s existing geographic footprint.
That’s usually what the B1G looks for when seeking to expand, or at least, that has historically been the case.
This is why we should angle to get as many Pac12 teams on our schedule as possible. Play them up and down the line in all sports. Be hospitable and work the media complex to compliment all schools.
What he said. Let’s try to get USC home and home. We have Wazzu. That’s a great start. We need to use those Texas connections. At the very least this will sweat the B12.
Kelvin Sampson will stay at UH until he believes that his son Kellen is ready to take over the program and keep it at the highest level. The family connection is very very strong, so don’t look for Kelvin to move out any time soon. I have said it for a while now…Kelvin has something to prove to the NCAA, college basketball, and the city of Houston, and that is winning the National Championship. He has every tool that he needs here in Houston…just keep recruiting and coaching, and he can make it happen. The Fertitta center and the practice facility were game changers for this program and for the school.
It is not hyperbole to say that the University of Houston Basketball program is now at an elite level. Why leave now? Outside of Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Duke, who has a clearly better program than Houston at this point? Sure there are a group of schools that are equal to what we have. But there is only 5 or 6 that are clearly superior.
UH has great facilities and outstanding programs in basketball, track, and baseball. Just need for football to be nationally relevant. and that program is getting a major boost.
Seems like athletics.that would appeal to any conference.
It ranks itself annually using AAU criteria. It should achieve AAU membership in a few years.
Now it is time that we set our eyes on the next destination, i.e., membership in the Association of American Universities or AAU. The requirements for AAU are both quantitative and qualitative.
The good news is that we meet or exceed the minimum threshold held by the current members in all of the categories.
The bad news is that the minimum threshold is no longer sufficient. AAU expects new institutions to enter at a much higher level of performance than those grandfathered in.
UCLA is a bad fit for CKS. They want up-tempo run-and-gun style with top recruits. They’ve been hiring defense first guys and the fans haven’t been happy with it.
CKS has also said that he’s done trying to go after jobs like that. He wants a job that he can settle into and make it a family thing. He has that here;wouldn’t have it out in LA.
This season’s attendance figures for college basketball in the Pac-12, according to the Trib:
Arizona – 13,588.
Utah – 11,168.
Arizona State – 9,697.
Oregon – 8,166.
UCLA – 7,810.
Colorado – 6,567.
Washington – 6,563.
California – 4,654.
Oregon State – 4,535.
Stanford – 3,488.
USC – 3,145.
Washington State – 2,003.
UCLA won’t hire Kellen. They’re looking at established coaches.
I doubt Kellen goes anywhere while CKS is coaching Houston unless it becomes obvious that he has no shot at the Houston job after his father retires. However, if it becomes that obvious, I doubt CKS stays.