I am personally loving all the drama in this thread. Besides us, Cincinnati and UCF are going to see the our teams are talent deficient when compared to the Big 12 teams. All three teams did not have the talent to overwhelm the American so expecting any of them to dominate the Big 12 next year is ludicrous.
So I am going to go into next year expecting 6 wins and to see improvement in our defense. The year after that I expect a stronger showing in conference and by year 3 I want to see us contending for a Big 12 championship.
My expectations aren’t lowered, they are realistic for our new conference.
Per the Massey Index, the Big 12 is the second best conference this year and much closer to the SEC than the Big Ten. That’s not because of how great Oklahoma and Texas are doing. I haven’t updated my spreadsheet in a while but that remains true even after accounting for realignment.
2021:
2020:
2019:
Basically starting in 2018 made some substantial leaps in competitiveness and is in the top two every season except 2019. Counting all of the seasons from 2014 to 2022, the Big 12 is in third place in a tight grouping with the Pac-12 and ACC.
We are entering a tough conference. The AAC we’ve been playing in doesn’t compare.
I don’t have a problem with their comments on their face but I fear the subtext with regard to Holgorsen is not good. It can be a thin line between managing expectations and discarding them.
Right. We all know and admit the challenges of upgrading to the Big 12. The question is if we have the right folks in place to navigate those challenges.
The biggest doubt I have is with Holgorsen leading the football program.
As your nickname for him signals towards, the main issue with Pezman is that I don’t think he’s actually doing the navigating. We can replace him, but if we do I worry that we’ll just get someone else who isn’t really navigating things.
If only we had a coach which was in his 5th year to really bring recruiting momentum/depth into the Big 12.
We all know that isn’t going to happen which is why a proven recruiter like Deion is crucial for a school like the University of Houston.
Looks like the BoR aren’t going to make the move now so hopefully after CDH wins 2-4 games next season they’ll make the move but I think the excuses are already built-in.
The Post and The Chronicle predicted us to finish dead last in the SWC. The general consensus was it would take several years for us to be competitive in conference.
Pezman did exactly what the bosses wanted - he secured a coach to lead the program’s transition into the B12. The message from the BoR is that our future success doesn’t depend on winning the conference next year, but that we need to elevate every facet of the program, starting with the recruiting base.
They’re not going to freak out and fire everyone in response to a mediocre season when we’re in the process of making a transformational move because that’s exactly the kind of reactionary stupidity that gets programs mired in perpetual mediocrity.
I would be completely on board with all of it if I had more confidence in Holgorsen in years #3-5. (Even as is I agree with the text – just concerned about the subtext.)
Maybe, but people are complaining we lost to Tulane #18 in the country and we also beat UTSA who finished the season ranked.
Frankly, the only loss that is nonsense is the Tulsa loss to end the regular season.
People have an unrealistic interpretation of our season.
With 3 minutes left, Tulane went 11 plays for 75 yards to tie the game. After we kick a FG in OT, they only need 2 plays for a TD to win it. Oh and their QB was a 3rd stringer who didn’t expect to play.
Typing that pisses me off much less watching it unfold.
