Wow, the title of this thread should have been … “UH - Blue Blood or Not?”.
What happened to Tramon’s accolades acknowledgement? lol
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This upcoming season is the first time since Reagan was president that we will be ranked at the beginning of the year. Let that sink in for a moment.
And we are not a blue blood.
The closest to being a blue blood in the AAC is Cincy.
Tournament Appearances: 33
Sweet Sixteen Appearances: 13
Elite 8 appearances: 8
Final Four Appearances: 6
National Championships: 2
With no national championships, UH cannot come anywhere near being called a blue blood. I think we need to change that starting this fall.
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Now that Uconn has left the building, I agree
Is Texas or A&M Blue Blood? I think 5 final fours should at least say a historical respected program…at least.
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Not in basketball.
You cannot say UT or A&M in the same breath with Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and UNC when talking about basketball bluebloods.
No, aTm is not a blue blood in basketball or football.
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And of course, ut only has GREEN blood !
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Neither. Texas can claim they’re the top basketball school in the state. They’ve been to the NCAA Tournament 34 times, the Final Four twice, and have two NIT championships. We have 21 NCAA appearances, five Final Fours, and were runner up in the NIT. 20-30 years ago UH would get the nod, but from ‘89 through’18, UT missed the Tournament only 4 times and won NIT in ‘19.
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The football bluebloods would be an interesting discussion if maybe in a different forum.
I’d say these:
Alabama
Oklahoma
Ohio State
Michigan
Texas
Notre Dame
USC
Nebraska
Penn State and Georgia are arguable.
It’s also easier to make the NCAA tournament from the Big 12 then it is from CUSA.
Doesn’t help our case that while we were in C-USA we sucked balls instead of playing basketball. If we would have made a better hire after Coach Lewis, we would have a better case to be a blue blood.
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Does 5 Championships = Blue Blood in football???!
Maybe we have more ncaa appearances per years of existence😎
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As a whole though, not just the couple decades before we came back, if anyone can claim it it would be UH over ut on the five final fours. NIT doesn’t mean anything anymore really. Has ut even made a champ game?
Certainly arguable. If we had any meaningful success the past 30 years (before ‘19), I’d say you’re absolutely right. And the Final Fours, Game of the Century, and Phi Slama Jama have to count for a lot. Bleacher Report agrees with you.
Four AAC teams in the top 50. Strong. Also remember that back in the day when we played in the NIT Championship game, the NIL was bigger than the Dance.
We were well on our way to being a “blue blood” after the group that went to three straight final fours! Unfortunately after Lewis left, the powers made the first of many bad coaching picks! That’s when we dropped from the conversation. It has taken 25 years to get back in the conversation. But don’t bitch cause we are back and we will show that from now on, if they let us play this season. So don’t throw in the towel you guys, we are too tough!
I don’t think Pat Foster was a bad choice. In seven years he averaged 20 wins, went to the post-season (NCAA Tournament 3x, NIT 3x) every year but one, and won the SWC championship. If we had continued to get to the NCAAs every other year, we’d have 31 rather than 21 NCAA appearances and would unquestionably still be considered the top basketball program in the state.
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Foster was a good coach. He recruited some good players (Upchurch, Goldwire, Mack, etc)and won 20 games a year. Made some NCAA tourney appearances, but never won a game in the big dance. But the reason UH basketball fell off was the same reason UH football fell off. Poor school administration. entering the 90s college football and basketball became big business and the playing field was no longer level. UH hoops had decades of lean years with zero support, but that has changed. This is the best time in program history outside of the Big E and early 80’s eras
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