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Bubba and BCS busting
Published: 8/16/2011 4:06 PM
Last Modified: 8/16/2011 4:06 PM

I got a chance to attend Tulsa athletic director Bubba Cunningham's media brunch last week, and I came away very impressed.

Periodically through the school year, Cunningham invites the media to the ONEOK Club at Chapman Stadium to talk sports.

It's an informal, not-for-publication meeting that really promotes an honest exchange of ideas.

Tulsa is lucky to have an athletic director like Cunningham who understands the media and how hard a school like Tulsa must work to compete in a market shared with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

I was also very impressed with the quality of Tulsa's facilities, from the ONEOK Club, to the team's football locker rooms and the basketball arena.

Tulsa's facilities are impressive -- and night-and-day better than a school like Houston.

That's why I laugh a little when I hear the talk of Houston replacing Texas A&M in the Big 12 if the Aggies follow through with their threats to move to the SEC.

UH is trying to raise money now for a complete facilities upgrade. It also has a great winning tradition -- although it's mostly decades old. But if UH was seen as a good fit for the Big 12, it would already be a member. UH, TCU or SMU may get an invitation, but all three -- in my mind -- would only be temporary bandages before a full-scale breakup.

If UH does get a chance to spend some time in a Texas-OU-OSU led Big 12, it would have to be a real disappointment for a program like Tulsa, which has at least as much to offer in every aspect but geography.

The UH solution is also why OU and OSU may talk a good game of conference loyalty, but they have to be working on a exit strategy behind the scenes.

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whereintheworld (last year)

Good points and good blog post. Hits a major chord with TU fans and why there is such a disdain for Houston.

UH to Big 12 makes as much or less sense than TU to Big 12 (which would both be bad options).

UH would be worse off than Baylor. UH consistently gets higher rated recruiting classes than just about anyone in C-USA but they've only won C-USA once in the last 15 years and won the western division twice in that span.

The last time UH finished in the polls? 1990.
The last time TU finished in the polls? 2010. Then 1991 before that.

Lets just go back to when UH and TU had their recent resurgences (2003 when Art Briles and Kragthorpe started).
TU has gone 65-39
UH has gone 57-45
Last 5? UH went 41-25 & TU went 44-22

UH has closed the gap but gets more attention because it is in Houston and the baby boomer voters probably remember UH being good in the 70s and for 3 years a bit after SMU got the death penalty.

It doesn't matter how much TU beats or outperforms UH on the field, the national media and pollsters see "HOUSTON" (a hot spot for recruiting and a program which was prominent during the Viet-Nam era).

It will require great efforts by Bubba, Bill Blankenship and the rest of the coaching staff to continue rising the program up to new levels.

61241 (last year)

I agree that bringing back in TCU, SMU, and Houston would be a "temporary bandage". Wasn't the old Southwest Conference disbanded years ago? So why would the Big XII think that would work?

Soonertrain (last year)

It wouldn't work.

JS (last year)

UH has a couple of things TU will never have - a large alumni base and a large TV market. Both factors add up to money for the Big 12. That IS what drives college athletics, isn't it?

deejay (last year)

The mention of the glory days of Bill Yoeman's Houston days reminds me of the once great Southwest Conference and it was sad for this native Texan to see its demise. Good points up above and maybe the University of Houston will someday match TCU's rise to prominence. It is improving its facilities.

mgpeters (last year)

I have fond memories of the Southwest Conference. It's too bad money is such a factor as to end long-time rivalries.
I have heard some suggest football/basketball conferences and Olympic sports conferences. That is an interesting idea.
UH does have a large alumni base, but unfortunately for the Cougars they are probably behind the Texans, Astros, Rockets, Longhorns and Aggies when it comes to commanding the TV market.
That's why the Big 12 was able to get away with leaving TCU, SMU and UH out the first time.

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Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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