Former Coach says Houston "bad" for Big 12

Harry · August 9, 2016

Former Houston head coach Dana Dimel didn't sugarcoat things when he said that he thought adding the Cougars to the Big 12 would be a bad move. Dimel, now the co-offensive coordinator at Kansas State, was the head coach at Houston for three years from 2000-2002. He didn't waste time getting to his point.

"I think it would be really bad for everybody."

Dimel's objection to Houston in the Big 12 is related mostly to recruiting. "You can recruit Houston. If they get into the Big 12 they will be tough to beat in recruiting, because of the proximity."

Houston has exploded as a program under head coach Tom Herman, going 12-1 in 2015, his first year as a head coach. But perhaps more to Dimel's point, Herman has jump-started Houston's recruiting, moving them from the No. 92 class in 2015 to No. 35 in 2016, according to the 247 Composite Index. That 2016 class included five-star defensive tackle Ed Oliver, a local Houston product that picked the Cougars over teams like Alabama, Texas, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, as well as a whole host of others.

The Cougars currently have the No. 35 class in the 2017 247 Composite Index rankings, but a move to the Big 12 would almost certainly cause that number to jump and give teams in the Big 12 and beyond another power conference competitor to worry about on the cutthroat Texas recruiting trail.

read more:http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/8/8/12406712/houston-big-12-dana-dimel-kansas-state

Travis · August 9, 2016

What a weak reason.

UTSA Fan · August 9, 2016

Sounds like good for the conference bad for him

Harry · August 9, 2016

7 minutes ago, Travis said:

What a weak reason.

I agree -- and frankly schools like K-State. OSU, ISU, Tech etc have benefited so greatly from their association with the Big 12 they don't want what is best for the conference. It's sort of like, we are scared of what a team like Houston could become.

Mean Green 93-98 · August 9, 2016

I thought he was going to talk about Cougar Queen.

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · August 9, 2016

Stupid. Kansas' proximity to Kansas City didn't allow it to control the recruiting there, nor Mizzou's proximity to St. Louis. Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Big Ten schools always came in and got what they wanted in front of those cities...and still do.

Houston isn't going to outrecruit Oklahoma, LSU, Texas A&M or any other traditional name school in the Houston area. Dimel is dumb.

Edited August 9, 2016 by MeanGreenMailbox

Hunter Green · August 9, 2016

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

TreeFiddy · August 9, 2016

Houston was in a major conference before and it didn't keep people from recruiting Houston. There are other reasons not to add UH, but this isn't one of them.

Cougar King · August 9, 2016

6 hours ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

I thought he was going to talk about Cougar Queen.

Aw shucks, I don't even have to be around and you guys still think of me.

Anywho, Dimel is our version of Todd Dodge with a few dashes of McCarney. 8-26 over 3 years and the only coach in school history to run an antique pro style offense at UH instead of up-tempo spread.

tmjerm · August 10, 2016

Season ticket holder during Dimel era here...he was terrible. His time there is washed of the mind of cougar fans. Dumb reason and a dumb comment. Why would he want to pull out those skeletons? Look forward to seeing the Coogs smack dat....even though I love Bill.

greenb.o.g. · August 10, 2016

He's just saying out loud what a lot of other coaches and administrators are thinking.

UNTLifer · August 10, 2016

5 hours ago, Cougar King said:

Aw shucks, I don't even have to be around and you guys still think of me.

Anywho, Dimel is our version of Todd Dodge with a few dashes of McCarney. 8-26 over 3 years and the only coach in school history to run an antique pro style offense at UH instead of up-tempo spread.

Then there was Bill Yoeman, but who's counting.

untjim1995 · August 10, 2016

For the life of me, how the Big XII can choose UH over Cincy is just beyond me. Cincy gives you a new market, as well as a bridge to West Virginia.

Houston, as a market, already belongs to the Big XII. It brings nothing to the conference, from a revenue standpoint. Cincy would, though. Not to mention the hoops upgrade you get with Cincy over UH.

The Big XII always makes the wrong decisions at the top, which is why it will not be a power conference within the next 8 years. Picking UH does nothing for them. And, for UH, getting into the ACC or PAC-12 would be much better for their long term future. Don't bet against the PAC taking UH someday as a way to get into Texas. If UT doesn't go west, UH will still have an academic profile that would fit out west much more than, say Tech...

UNTLifer · August 10, 2016

Why would the Big XII not be a power conference? Last year alone that had the following highly ranked teams:

Football: #3 OU, #14 TCU, #19 OSU, and #21 Baylor

Men's Basketball: #3 Kansas, #4 OU, #14 WVU, #15 Iowa State and #24 Baylor

Women's Basketball: #4 Baylor, #7 Texas, #23 WVU, and #24 OU

Baseball: #3 TCU, #4 Okie State, #6 Texas Tech

Softball: #1 OU, #12 Missouri, #21 Baylor and Texas just barely missed being ranked following out of the final poll.

Pretty stout results.

Edited August 10, 2016 by UNTLifer

forevereagle · August 10, 2016

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

Why would the Big XII not be a power conference? Last year alone that had the following highly ranked teams:

Football: #3 OU, #14 TCU, #19 OSU, and #21 Baylor

Men's Basketball: #3 Kansas, #4 OU, #12 TAMU, #14 WVU, #15 Iowa State and #24 Baylor

Women's Basketball: #4 Baylor, #7 Texas, #18 TAMU, #23 WVU, and #24 OU

Baseball: #3 TCU, #4 Okie State, #6 Texas Tech, and #9 TAMU

Softball: #1 OU, #12 Missouri, #20 TAMU, #21 Baylor and Texas just barely missed being ranked following out of the final poll.

Pretty stout results.

While I am sure the Big 12 would like to include A&M's positive achievements, it seems that the SEC might have an opinion on that.

Ryan Munthe · August 10, 2016

14 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

For the life of me, how the Big XII can choose UH over Cincy is just beyond me. Cincy gives you a new market, as well as a bridge to West Virginia.

Houston, as a market, already belongs to the Big XII. It brings nothing to the conference, from a revenue standpoint. Cincy would, though. Not to mention the hoops upgrade you get with Cincy over UH.

The Big XII always makes the wrong decisions at the top, which is why it will not be a power conference within the next 8 years. Picking UH does nothing for them. And, for UH, getting into the ACC or PAC-12 would be much better for their long term future. Don't bet against the PAC taking UH someday as a way to get into Texas. If UT doesn't go west, UH will still have an academic profile that would fit out west much more than, say Tech...

You're downvoted, but you're completely right.

UNTLifer · August 10, 2016

2 hours ago, forevereagle said:

While I am sure the Big 12 would like to include A&M's positive achievements, it seems that the SEC might have an opinion on that.

Damn it. Thanks for reminding me.

forevereagle · August 10, 2016

4 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

Damn it. Thanks for reminding me.

It is still a weird thing and easy to forget.

untjim1995 · August 11, 2016

15 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

Why would the Big XII not be a power conference? Last year alone that had the following highly ranked teams:

Football: #3 OU, #14 TCU, #19 OSU, and #21 Baylor

Men's Basketball: #3 Kansas, #4 OU, #14 WVU, #15 Iowa State and #24 Baylor

Women's Basketball: #4 Baylor, #7 Texas, #23 WVU, and #24 OU

Baseball: #3 TCU, #4 Okie State, #6 Texas Tech

Softball: #1 OU, #12 Missouri, #21 Baylor and Texas just barely missed being ranked following out of the final poll.

Pretty stout results.

Because TV and eyeballs matter and the Big XII has about three schools that anyone cares about nationally--UT, OU, and KU basketball. TCU and Baylor don't bring the eyeballs. Tech, OSU, KSU, and ISU are all looked at like they are stepchildren of their big brothers. WVU is kind of a national name, but don't bring many eyeballs either. The SEC and the Big Ten blow them out in eyeballs that follow their schools. The PAC and the ACC both have more populated areas to pull in viewership from than the Heartland schools and West Virginia...

A conference built on one school being the CEO (UT), a CFO (OU), and a COO (KU) who all make way more money than the bottom serfs is one that won't last.

UNTLifer · August 11, 2016

Who cares about the Big 10 beyond Ohio State, Michigan and maybe Penn State. Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan State are all good but don't have a big national following. Nebraska is no longer what they once were.

Pac-12: Oregon, USC, UCLA (maybe). Who's itching to watching Oregon State, the Arizonas or the Washingtons?

ACC: Beyond Florida State and now Clemson, who is followed nationally in football? Same concerning UNC and Duke in basketball.

SEC: The most successful conference is known for Alabama and LSU mainly with Florida and Georgia a close second. Top to bottom, they are the best.

Every conference has a couple of teams at the top that everyone knows and the Big XII is no different.

Edited August 11, 2016 by UNTLifer

Mean Green 93-98 · August 11, 2016

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

Who cares about the Big 10 beyond Ohio State, Michigan and maybe Penn State. Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan State are all good but don't have a big national following. Nebraska is no longer what they once were.

Pac-12: Oregon, USC, UCLA (maybe). Who's itching to watching Oregon State, the Arizonas or the Washingtons?

ACC: Beyond Florida State and now Clemson, who is followed nationally in football? Same concerning UNC and Duke in basketball.

SEC: The most successful conference is known for Alabama and LSU mainly with Florida and Georgia a close second. Top to bottom, they are the best.

Every conference has a couple of teams at the top that everyone knows and the Big XII is no different.

http://www.barkingcarnival.com/2015/12/21/10636988/sec-big-10-dominate-college-football-tv-ratings

untjim1995 · August 12, 2016

Listening to the Hardline right now and they are talking about how awful a choice for the Big XII that Houston would be...all for the reason I listed above.

The Big XII has two choices that will help them--BYU and Cincy. Everyone else takes away from their members in some form.

As for the B1G, they are giant state schools, except for Northwestern. You may not care about Iowa playing Minnesota here in Texas, but they sure do in the Midwest. The SEC and the B1G matter the most because of viewers, both in person and on TV. The ACC, Big XII, and Pac-12 don't have the interest from their fanbases like the other two do. SO when you compare the Big XII to the ACC and the Pac-12, the problem always comes back to being a lack of eyeballs outside of Texas. The Pac-12 has LA, SF, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, and Salt Lake City. The ACC has Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami. Both of those carry a lot of eyeballs that the Big XII cannot offer outside of Texas--Kansas City is the biggest market outside of Texas. Otherwise, its Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Wichita, and Des Moines.

The Pac-12 will need to get their network going at a higher rate than it currently runs, which will require expansion eastward. The easiest solution, politically, for the Pac-12 is to add 4 schools from the Big 12. It could be the Texoma 4 or it could be Texas, OU, KU, and Iowa State. No matter what, the LHN killed the future of the Big XII because it created an unfair advantage for Texas. So whatever the Big XII does to expand in the near future is really just lipstick on a dead body. There is no way it can continue to exist.

And when that happens, the MWC and AAC will be there to take up those leftovers (TCU, Baylor, Kansas State, Texas Tech, and Iowa State are all potential leftovers).