Quote: The median fan almost certainly thinks of us as one of many âoh yeah, theyâre usually in the tournamentâ teams.
The median fan doesnât merely think that about Houston. Iâm betting that the median fan thinks MORE than that.
They most likely think, âoh yeah, this is a team that has regularly been regularly in the Top Ten in recent years, and a top or near top seed in the tourney and a consistent second weekend tourney team in recent years (as opposed to a one time appearance in the last two decades).â
In the last few seasons, UH has clearly outclassed both UT and Baylor.
Thatâs why I say, if you asked median fans which college basketball program is the best in the State of Texas TODAY, most would answer Houston, because weâve clearly had more recent high level success, based on national rankings, based on tourney seedings, and based on second weekend tourney experience.
Memories are short in the world of sports.
Case in point.
If you asked median fans which college basketball program was the best in the State of Indiana HISTORICALLY, or âALL-TIME,â most would probably say Indiana. After all, they have the most natties, the most final fours, etc.
BUTâŠOTOHâŠ
Youâd get a very different answer if you were to ask those same median fans which college basketball program in the best in that state TODAY, given that a) Indianaâs last second weekend appearance in the tourney was several years ago, AND b) Purdue just played in a Final, and is still in the Top Ten.
The most common answer as to which program is the best in the state of Indiana TODAY would probably be Purdue.
For the same reasons, replace the word âIndianaâ in the latter sentence with âTexas,â and I think at least a majority if not a super-majority answer would be âHouston.â
More evidence comes forward to bolster my case.
And this:
Youâre vastly overestimating the amount of attention that the median fan â who likely only tunes in at tournament time â pays to things like polls and S16 appearances. If you asked about Indiana, quite a lot of people wouldnât even realize Purdue is in that state. Likewise, when asked about âTexasâ teams, teams whose names start with âTexasâ are gonna come up first, and then the team that won a title a couple years ago from the state. Most fans donât think of Houston when they think of Texas. Which one is actually better is largely irrelevant.
I would say that most fans of college basketball today do indeed think of Houston as the CURRENT best program in Texas, and would answer so if asked, for the reasons Iâve already stated.
Feel free to disagree, but thatâs how I see it.
I doubt that most would say UT or Baylor over Houston, based on current performance and recent success. UT has like one second weekend appearance in the last 10 years, and Baylor has been down since their title run. UH has been consistently at our near the top of the rankings, seedings, and a second weekend tourney team in recent seasons, and we are currently in the Top 10âŠUNLIKE UT or Baylor.
Again, what theyâve actually done hardly matters. Itâs mostly a word-association game. When people think âTexas,â Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech are gonna come up first. People donât think about Houston at all when they think about Texas schools unless theyâre relatively deep in the weeds of the sport.
They certainly do when it comes to college basketball though, especially in the last few years.
And people that know the industries/fields would almost certainly identify UH as the top school in Texas in subjects like Health Law, Hospitality, Creative Writing and Intellectual Property Law.
And while this isnât the âmedian fan,â CBS sports recently did a map showing their picks for current best college basketball program in each state.
See the picks for Texas and Indiana, respectively. Hint: TX ainât Baylor or UT, and Indiana ainât Indiana. They are the teams that I would pick (Houston and Purdue).
As I said, memories in sports are short.
I remember the shirts in the bookstore mid 90s. Texan by Birth Cougar by Choice. I wore that thing even after the sleeves fell off 
I did the same with my Houston 1836 t-shirt
do they not play Basketball in Alaska?
I donât think they have D1 teams except in ice hockey.
Weâll make it easy. Should the TX outline be the primary logo? No. I think we all agree on that.
Are there reasons to have it as a alternate logo? Yes.
I hate the blue jerseys, but there are reasons to have them. So we should use both as alternates for their intended purposes.
I can definitely get jiggy with that!
So now the University of Houston represents all of Ireland!
For those not in the know, that clover is the logo of Lucky Brand, which is primarily a denim company.
Except it doesnât, because St Patrickâs shamrock has three leaves to represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not four.