Sampson finalizes deal to stay at Houston

[Harry]

Houston has offered Sampson a six-year, $18 million contract extension according to Tilman Fertitta, the chairman of Houston's Board of Regents. He had tw years left on his existing contract that paid him $1.6 million annually.

Sampson was considered a leading candidate to replace Mike Anderson as Arkansas' coach because he worked with Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurchek at Houston. Yurachek was an associate athletic director when Sampson was hired as Houston, then served as athletic director for three years before coming to Arkansas.

Sampson has led the Cougars to a 116-52 record the past five seasons, including a 33-4 record this season and UH's first NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance since 1984.

With Sampson's decision to stay at Houston, the next target for Arkansas could be Nevada coach Eric Musselman, who has a 110-43 record in four seasons with the Wolf Pack, including three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances highlighted by a run to the Sweet 16 in 2018.

Marc Johnson, Nevada's president, said the school would work to fend off a challenge from Arkansas to hire Musselman.

read more:  https://www.hotsr.com/news/2019/apr/03/sampson-finalizes-deal-to-stay-at-houst/

[NorthTexasWeLove]

3 mil a year in basketball is big time. Puts Sampson in the same category as some pretty savvy basketball schools and the 21st highest paid coach in CBB. Paid more than 9 SEC coaches. UH is trying to pay their way to primetime. 

[DeepGreen]

1 hour ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

3 mil a year in basketball is big time. Puts Sampson in the same category as some pretty savvy basketball schools and the 21st highest paid coach in CBB. Paid more than 9 SEC coaches. UH is trying to pay their way to primetime. 

If you have deep pockets like Fertitta you can buy your way into "primetime".  IMHO, the success Houston is having in sports, they are ripe for making the move up to a P5 conference.

[MeanGreenTexan]

42 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

If you have deep pockets like Fertitta you can buy your way into "primetime".  IMHO, the success Houston is having in sports, they are ripe for making the move up to a P5 conference.

They made a strong play to join the most likely P5 conference & were shut down 2 yrs ago.   Same deep-pocketed Fertitta was at the helm at that time.    They're going to have to wait until the next round of shake-ups in a few years.   They're absolutely positioned well for that upcoming opportunity though.

[Salsa_Verde]

This might be a little off topic but eff it it’s the off-season. What where the reasons that Houston got turned down? Doesn’t seem like they’ve changed anything since two years ago? Anyone know? 

[MeanGreenTexan]

12 minutes ago, Salsa_Verde said:

This might be a little off topic but eff it it’s the off-season. What where the reasons that Houston got turned down? Doesn’t seem like they’ve changed anything since two years ago? Anyone know? 

IIRC, The Big12 was trying to figure out if they would still qualify as a P5 conference with only 10 members & no conference championship game.  They appealed the NCAA.  In the meantime, Houston was really jockeying to get in, and many others speculated BYU or Cincinnati/Memphis would also join to round out a 12-team conference if the NCAA handed down they needed to get to 12 teams.     
When it came back that they would retain their P5 status as-is, they told all of those suitors to kick rocks.    

None of the P5 conferences want to share their $$$ pies if they don't have to.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

2 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

IIRC, The Big12 was trying to figure out if they would still qualify as a P5 conference with only 10 members & no conference championship game.  They appealed the NCAA.  In the meantime, Houston was really jockeying to get in, and many others speculated BYU or Cincinnati/Memphis would also join to round out a 12-team conference if the NCAA handed down they needed to get to 12 teams.     
When it came back that they would retain their P5 status as-is, they told all of those suitors to kick rocks.    

None of the P5 conferences want to share their $$$ pies if they don't have to.

Yep. I believe a conference championship game played a role in this as well. It was approved that they could maintain a round robin format with 10 teams while having a conf champ game. The NCAA gave them the nod and they opted to hold par at 10 in order to not have to slice the pie 2 extra times. UH, Cincy, UCF, Memphis and BYU basically got catfished. Those were the 5 jockeying heavily. I believe Temple as well. Can't completely recall. 

[emmitt01]

6 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

If you have deep pockets like Fertitta you can buy your way into "primetime".  IMHO, the success Houston is having in sports, they are ripe for making the move up to a P5 conference.

They’re ripe to throw good money at bad...again.  They’ll always be P”5”

[UNTLifer]

53 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

They’re ripe to throw good money at bad...again.  They’ll always be P”5”

I think you meant G5. They aren’t moving up. 

[emmitt01]

48 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I think you meant G5. They aren’t moving up. 

That’s why I used the quotation marks

[untjim1995]

19 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

IIRC, The Big12 was trying to figure out if they would still qualify as a P5 conference with only 10 members & no conference championship game.  They appealed the NCAA.  In the meantime, Houston was really jockeying to get in, and many others speculated BYU or Cincinnati/Memphis would also join to round out a 12-team conference if the NCAA handed down they needed to get to 12 teams.     
When it came back that they would retain their P5 status as-is, they told all of those suitors to kick rocks.    

None of the P5 conferences want to share their $$$ pies if they don't have to.

And to piggyback on this, there is nothing that compels them to add anyone, ESPECIALLY when the Power Leagues media members make it clear that adding any of those teams is not something that adds value at all in their view.

I think the top end of the AAC and MWC are easily better than a lot of Power League teams. But there is nothing that makes them attractive to conferences or networks to move them upward. Assuming the Big XII fails by 2025 when its GOR ends, I think the leftovers are just going to be in the two big G5 leagues or will pilfer from them to keep a watered-down, AAC-type, Big XII intact, which won't be a P5 league anymore.

[Wag Tag]

6 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

And to piggyback on this, there is nothing that compels them to add anyone, ESPECIALLY when the Power Leagues media members make it clear that adding any of those teams is not something that adds value at all in their view.

I think the top end of the AAC and MWC are easily better than a lot of Power League teams. But there is nothing that makes them attractive to conferences or networks to move them upward. Assuming the Big XII fails by 2025 when its GOR ends, I think the leftovers are just going to be in the two big G5 leagues or will pilfer from them to keep a watered-down, AAC-type, Big XII intact, which won't be a P5 league anymore.

What is the TV market for Iowa State and Kansas St? We need to be a top 8 G5 school and hopefully we move up to AAC once the breakup starts!

[greenminer]

32 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

What is the TV market for Iowa State and Kansas St? We need to be a top 8 G5 school and hopefully we move up to AAC once the breakup starts!

I'm afraid those two are grandfathered into media attraction.  They were in the B8 since the early 1900s, then just merged with the SWC to form the B12 in 1996.  It was a package deal that existed prior to the social media storm, the BCS, and...everything as we know it.  The brand attraction of Bill Snyder was very, very strong too.

I do speculate if the evolution of media from cable to stream will negate (consolidate might be more appropriate word) the media market argument.  Most networks will be able to broadcast their games to pretty much anyone, and most anyone will find access to any game.  I could have it backwards though.  Maybe media markets will somehow be even more important

[untjim1995]

28 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

What is the TV market for Iowa State and Kansas St? We need to be a top 8 G5 school and hopefully we move up to AAC once the breakup starts!

Totally agree on the two Big 12 schools you listed--they've been riding coattails for a long time.

The question always goes back to whether we can jump SMU ever. Lets say the Big XII folds, and it leaves WVU, KSU, ISU, TCU, and Baylor on the outside. Do those five teams join the MWC and AAC? Or do they stay in a non-power Big XII, then add teams from the other G5s to be more CST oriented? It really wouldn't be hard to see those four add in UH, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Memphis, Cincy, and a team like NIU. You'd get the Texas 4, plus Tulsa, and Tulane in a Big XII South and the other in a Big XII North. This would cause the AAC to replace 6 teams, with probably a reality of becoming more regional, since they would have no one in the CST after this. That would mean a focus on CUSA East schools, probably meaning Marshall, WKU, ODU, MUTS, Charlotte, and a F_U would join them. At that time, I think the SBCUSA has to align regionally, with CUSA West and the SBC West merging over here to give us this: UNT, UTEP, UTSA, Texas State, Rice, Arkansas State, La Tech, Louisiana, ULM, USM, UAB, and Troy.

[Wag Tag]

27 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

Totally agree on the two Big 12 schools you listed--they've been riding coattails for a long time.

The question always goes back to whether we can jump SMU ever. Lets say the Big XII folds, and it leaves WVU, KSU, ISU, TCU, and Baylor on the outside. Do those five teams join the MWC and AAC? Or do they stay in a non-power Big XII, then add teams from the other G5s to be more CST oriented? It really wouldn't be hard to see those four add in UH, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Memphis, Cincy, and a team like NIU. You'd get the Texas 4, plus Tulsa, and Tulane in a Big XII South and the other in a Big XII North. This would cause the AAC to replace 6 teams, with probably a reality of becoming more regional, since they would have no one in the CST after this. That would mean a focus on CUSA East schools, probably meaning Marshall, WKU, ODU, MUTS, Charlotte, and a F_U would join them. At that time, I think the SBCUSA has to align regionally, with CUSA West and the SBC West merging over here to give us this: UNT, UTEP, UTSA, Texas State, Rice, Arkansas State, La Tech, Louisiana, ULM, USM, UAB, and Troy.

Man that would suck! I don’t see Tulsa, SMU and Tulane being adds. I could actually see us in a conference with them. SMU may not have a choice.

[UNT'19]

1 hour ago, untjim1995 said:

Totally agree on the two Big 12 schools you listed--they've been riding coattails for a long time.

The question always goes back to whether we can jump SMU ever. Lets say the Big XII folds, and it leaves WVU, KSU, ISU, TCU, and Baylor on the outside. Do those five teams join the MWC and AAC? Or do they stay in a non-power Big XII, then add teams from the other G5s to be more CST oriented? It really wouldn't be hard to see those four add in UH, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Memphis, Cincy, and a team like NIU. You'd get the Texas 4, plus Tulsa, and Tulane in a Big XII South and the other in a Big XII North. This would cause the AAC to replace 6 teams, with probably a reality of becoming more regional, since they would have no one in the CST after this. That would mean a focus on CUSA East schools, probably meaning Marshall, WKU, ODU, MUTS, Charlotte, and a F_U would join them. At that time, I think the SBCUSA has to align regionally, with CUSA West and the SBC West merging over here to give us this: UNT, UTEP, UTSA, Texas State, Rice, Arkansas State, La Tech, Louisiana, ULM, USM, UAB, and Troy.

This is a hot take if i've ever read one. I truly believe, if we are able to sustain the success we are experiencing out through 2025-2026, we would leap over schools like Tulsa and Memphis and definitely NIU. Tulsa and NIU don't have the market, and Memphis is only really relevant in basketball, and they haven't produced that well recently. If those schools got in with the Big12 leftovers before us, I will be incredibly disappointed. Also, give me death before you put us in a conference with Texas State.

[untjim1995]

3 hours ago, UNT'19 said:

This is a hot take if i've ever read one. I truly believe, if we are able to sustain the success we are experiencing out through 2025-2026, we would leap over schools like Tulsa and Memphis and definitely NIU. Tulsa and NIU don't have the market, and Memphis is only really relevant in basketball, and they haven't produced that well recently. If those schools got in with the Big12 leftovers before us, I will be incredibly disappointed. Also, give me death before you put us in a conference with Texas State.

Your last sentence is exactly how SMU and UH feel about us...

[UNTLifer]

9 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

Your last sentence is exactly how SMU and UH feel about us...

Then let’s set our sights on passing them by. 

[untjim1995]

3 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

Then let’s set our sights on passing them by. 

I agree wholeheartedly. But SMU is the one to really try and leap. Until we do, we are always relegated behind them on the totem pole of college sports conferences. 

SMU blocked us from SWC when were a perfect fit. SMU blocked us from CUSA when networks were still allowing markets to have more the one team, like UH and Rice. And they block us from the AAC today, because of the control the networks have on getting coverage and dollars from having presence in markets. 

While we here at gmg.com see us as being able to provide so much more to a conference than SMU can in today's world, unfortunately, conferences, media, and networks have not come to this conclusion. I've said this before, but the conference that's above us will have to take the chance on us being able to reach our potential in athletics. We don't have anything that really proves this, but we have to hope someone above us looks at our situation and sees USF/UCF potential.

[UNT'19]

On 4/4/2019 at 11:04 PM, untjim1995 said:

Your last sentence is exactly how SMU and UH feel about us...

UH? Couldn't agree more. SMU? SMU is a dying brand that will never ever ever reachieve success. SMU's 12 fans might look down on us, but at least we're continuously on the rise. The TV networks will see this sooner or later. We just gotta keep winning. And we will see how we fare against UH in the next few years...

Edited April 11, 2019 by UNT'19