Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Big 12 Expansion: Ranking the possible schools to be added

By Hunter Kinniburgh

Jul 18, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Omni Dallas Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 18, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Omni Dallas Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 10
Next
Dec 31, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; The Houston Cougars players pose fro a photo after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 38-24 in the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; The Houston Cougars players pose fro a photo after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 38-24 in the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

6. University of Houston

The Pros: 

Peach Bowl Champions just about says it. Houston had a resurgent season in 2015 under first year Head Coach Tom Herman and to be honest, it’s surprising he is still at the school.

After an 8-5 season in 2014, the Cougars went 13-1 in 2015 and defeated Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Houston has also won 47 games since 2011. That looks pretty darn good on a resume to get into the Big 12.

Houston also has a large TV market as well as a large alumni base. Houston used to go head-to-head against teams like Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech, and TCU in the old Southwest Conference, it only would make sense to add them in and renew those rivalries. Herman and his coaching staff have also proven that they can recruit; as long as they are at Houston, the Cougars will be more than competitive.

The Cons: 

The largest uphill battle the Houston will have in getting into the Big 12 will be the other Texas schools that already reside in the conference. Texas, Texas Tech, TCU and Baylor already have a lot of internal competition for high profile recruits.

Houston has already begun to snag a few of those recruits from them, so those schools will not be enthusiastic to add another Texas based school to the conference to take away recruits or even fans.

Next: No. 5 Memphis

Home/Big 12