UH AD Mack Rhodes comments on Big East

Harry · December 16, 2012

The Big East continued to fall apart Saturday with the seven basketball-only schools announcing they plan to leave the conference.

What does that mean for the University of Houston?

For now nothing.

Were candidly disappointed, but the Big East moves on, said Mack Rhoades, UHs vice president of intercollegiate athletics.

The latest shakeup came when the seven basketball-centric schools DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. Johns, Seton Hall and Villanova voted unanimously to leave the conference.

The schools will leave the conference, per conference bylaws, on June 30, 2015, ESPN.com reported.

Rhoades, speaking at Saturdays basketball game at Hofheinz Pavilion, said it was in the best interest of the University of Houston to join the Big East earlier this year and we still think that despite the constant changes due to an unsettled conference realignment sweeping college football.

The Cougars are scheduled to join the Big East on July 1, 2013.

Were always going to do whats best for UH, Rhoades said, and whats best for UH today is the Big East.

Read more: http://blog.chron.com/cougars/2012/12/mack-rhoades-says-big-east-is-what%E2%80%99s-best-for-uh-at-the-moment/

mgfan · December 16, 2012

It is funny that you haven't heard anything from ADs at Boise and San Diego.

Cougar King · December 16, 2012

There's still a BCS bid up for grabs in 2013. I seriously doubt Boise and SDSU go anywhere, but if they choose to leave then that means less competition for that BCS game. We also still get to play in Madison Square Garden for the next 2 years. So I'll take it for now.

PlummMeanGreen · December 16, 2012

SMU,UH and others just need to understand in their exclusive little world of self-importance that all this still amounts to is just more re-arranging of the ship's deck chairs but problem is all of us who are not in one of the Big Boy Conferences are still in the steerage section of the Good Ship NCAA.

I don't think even in some of you Young Gun Alum's lives that this attitude from that "most exclusive" group will ever change. Circumstances and no other choices in re-alignment may change it for them but they will go down (which is how they see it) scratching and screaming to keep from being with schools like North Texas.

On the other side of that coin: Our school has not in most of our older alums lives actually given the SMU's and UH's any real reasons to change their attitudes about us, either. Our school and constituency grew with warp type speed yet our support remains the same as it was in the 80's, the 90's and even 2003. 2003? That was one year after a Mean Green bowl game win.

Still amazing how we were once in a conference with Boise State and then looking at the direction the Broncos took comparative to ours (and our direction mostly because of poor hirings who to the person had a one helluva' line of BS and "as always"--stayed on the payroll too long) while most all these years later our school's leaders still seemedly having no clue as to what Boise did different than North Texas to make such a dramatic difference. At some point, you have to look at the idea of copying other's success, how they attained it and with the kind of personnel they accomplished it. Hiring those with superb lines of BS and false promises needs to become a lost art at North Texas.

GMG!

Edited December 16, 2012 by PlummMeanGreen

Arkstfan · December 16, 2012

Everyone is committed until they aren't. Right now everyone is sketching ideas and eventually one will catch the eye of at least 8 schools. They might go ahead and form the nBE just because its easier to continue that momentum but it won't likely last long.