Big East to expand; could UH be a target?

Even as we find ourselves in the middle of another college football season, discussion about the sport's future landscape continues. Last Monday, New York Daily News sportswriter Lenn Robbins reported that Big East presidents and athletics directors were holding a meeting on Tuesday to discuss possible expansion of their league, which currently consists of eight all-sports (i.e. FBS football) members and 16 total members:

The regularly-scheduled meeting of the presidents and athletic directors figures to be intense as the BCS-football playing members of the league intend on pressing their agenda to add teams to the eight-team football conference.

"The goal is to get the presidents' blessing to seriously pursue teams," said one Big East athletic director. "I don't think we're going to get pushback on that."

Several sources confirmed a Post report last month that TCU is a strong candidate. Houston, Central Florida, Temple and/or Villanova, which is in the midst of evaluating a move up from FCS, are other lead candidates.

Following this meeting on Tuesday, the Big East put out an announcement that, indeed, they were considering adding two football-playing members to their lineup. The Chronicle's Steve Campbell further analyzed the situation:

So is UH on the cusp of becoming a member of a Bowl Championship Series automatic qualifying league? Is it time for high-fiving on Cullen Blvd.? Not so fast.

The Big East board of directors announced Tuesday that the 16-member league will attempt to increase its Football Bowl Subdivision-playing contingent from eight teams to 10. The league did not clarify how Villanova, which is ranked No. 3 in the Football Championship Subdivision, fits into the equation.

Among the schools that have been on the Big East's radar are UH, UCF, East Carolina, Memphis and Temple. If Villanova is ready, willing and able to make a commitment to playing big-time football, then that leaves room for only one other school. If Villanova isn't ready to make that kind of commitment, then that would leave two seats at the Big East table. TCU (No. 3 in the BCS standings) is considered a shoo-in for one invitation. Assuming there is a second spot there for the taking, then the Big East would be sifting through the likes of UH, UCF, East Carolina, Memphis and Temple.

Needless to say, discussion and speculation on various UH sports message boards related to this announcement quickly drowned out any discussion of tomorrow night's important nationally-televised home game against Central Florida. How realistic are Houston's chances of being one of the two teams chosen for the Big East's expansion? Is this all the expansion the Big East is considering, or is this merely an interim step towards increasing the conference's football membership to twelve schools (the minimum number required for a conference championship game)? If so, could Houston be in the running for a future spot in the Big East if they don't get picked now? If these additions are for football only, in what conference will the Cougars play their other sports, such as basketball, and would the UH administration even consider accepting an invitation for football only?

The Cougars would definitely like to be included in the ranks of the Bowl Champion Series Automatic Qualifying teams (i.e., the "haves"), they are located in a large media market and recruiting hotbed, Houston would serve as a good travel partner for TCU if they are indeed at the top of the Big East's list, and membership in the Big East does make sense on many levels for Houston: it is a conference consisting largely of urban schools similar to Houston, many of which - Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida - used to be the Cougars' conference-mates in CUSA. However, there are also issues that could work against the Coogs, such as facilities and fan support (although plans are in place for a new stadium and attendance for football is clearly improving) as well as simple geography. Furthermore, would football-only membership be in the UH athletics program's overall best interests? And what happens if the Cougars join the Big East, only to watch as current Big East schools like Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Rutgers or West Virginia are later pilfered by the Big 10 or the ACC?

I've long since given up trying to make any sense out of conference realignment. So while I am skeptical that the University of Houston will be one of the two schools invited to join the Big East in the short term, anything is certainly possible. If for some reason the Coogs do get an invite, however, I think the administration would be foolish not to accept it. If the goal is to become a member of a BCS-AQ conference and all the priveleges in income and prestige that entails, then this is an easy way of reaching that goal.

Regardless of what happens, the University of Houston needs to continue doing what it's doing. It needs to continue its positive trends in terms of attendance, it needs to take the next step towards a new stadium by unveiling a funding plan, and the team needs to continue putting together winning seasons. While this season has been a disappointment due to a rash of injuries (notably, Case Keenum's) as well as a defense that has shown little improvement over last season, a winning record and a bowl appearance is still salvagable at this point. Tough though it may be, a win tomorrow night over a Central Florida team that is also on the Big East's list of possible candidates would be huge in more ways than one.

Coog-o'-Lantern

Maybe not my best work, but I nevertheless got a lot of positive comments about it during this evening's onslaught of trick-or-treaters:
Happy Halloween, everyone!

Coogs crush Memphis, 59-17

It would seem that rumors of the demise of University of Houston's 2010 season have been greatly exaggerated. The Coogs won their second road game in a row Saturday night in emphatic fashion: after allowing Memphis to score the game's first points on a field goal, the Cougars rattled off 49 unanswered points on their way to a 59-17 rout of the Tigers at the Liberty Bowl.

Quarterback David Piland had a solid outing, completing 20 of 23 passes for 293 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions. He got a lot of help from running back Michael Hayes, who ran for 123 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries and receiving for another score. And then there was wide receiver Patrick Edwards, who in addition to his two touchdown receptions returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown. Terrance Broadway also got to see some time at quarterback, completing all four of his passes for 111 yards and a touchdown on a 54-yard hookup to E. J. Smith that was a thing of beauty.

Houston's defense also put in a solid effort, limiting Memphis to three points through the first three quarters of the game. They did allow Tiger running back Gregory Ray to gain 176 yards on 26 carries, but that was okay considering that he was Memphis's only offensive weapon (The Tigers only completed 4 of 12 passes) and nevertheless wasn't allowed to reach the endzone until early in the fourth quarter, when the game had already been decided.

One could point out that Memphis is a particularly bad team, and they'd be correct. But, as history has shown, the Cougars don't always end up beating the teams they should beat. Saturday they took care of business and now find themselves at 5-3 overall and 4-1 in conference. They still control their own destiny in the Conference USA west race.

However, things are about to get considerably tougher for the Coogs. Central Florida, the eastern division's best team, comes to town Friday night. They are going to be tough. And the same Tulsa team which upset Notre Dame in South Bend yesterday awaits the Cougars the following weekend. The Cougars might be without the services of their biggest offensive weapon, too; Bryce Beall suffered a knee injury early in the Memphis game and his condition is unknown at this time.

Downtown on a clear day

Although my main office is in the Uptown/Galleria area, I've lately been spending a lot of time at my company's client's offices downtown. Earlier this week a cool front blew in and cleared the skies, giving me this wonderful view of the downtown skyline from my clients' window:
(Although, the way things have been going lately, a few rainclouds would be just as welcome in this view as well...)

My new ride

The time had simply come.

My 1997 Nissan Sentra served me well. I had it for twelve years, eight months and 129,319 miles. But the battered old car was clearly reaching the end of its useful life.
I originally had planned on holding out until early next year to get a new car. But then I asked myself, "why wait?" I had enough money saved for a down payment and Nissan was offering attractive deals on new cars. So last week I decided to bid farewell to the old Sentra and acquire a 2010 Altima 2.5S:
I'm happy with this car. The acceleration is smooth, the handling is excellent and the fuel economy is pretty good as well. And I no longer feel self-conscious driving around in a battered, dented old car.

Like I said: the time had simply come.

Coogs snap two-game losing streak with win over SMU

It's probably a good thing that I took a short vacation from blogging over the past few weeks: I really wouldn't have wanted to write about Houston's losses to Mississippi State and Rice.

The 24-47 loss to Mississippi State I could handle. Sure, the Bulldogs' victory snapped a 17-game home winning streak, but let's face it: the Cougars were breaking in a brand-new true-freshman quarterback, David Piland, who had never before seen a college field, the difference in size and strength between SEC (i.e. BCS-AQ) linemen and C-USA (i.e. BCS non-AQ) lineman once again made itself apparent, and, quite frankly, the fact that it was an out-of-conference game meant that it really didn't effect the Coogs' ultimate goal of winning Conference USA. Besides, the Coogs managed to beat Mississippi State three out of four times during this series, which softens the blow of this loss somewhat.

Certainly, there wasn't much to like about the fact that the Cougar defense allowed the Bulldogs to amass a whopping 409 rushing yards. And I still don't understand why the coaching staff decided it was a good idea to have a guy making his very first college start throw 57 pass attempts while only attempting 11 rushes. Sure, the Bulldogs were probably expecting the Cougars to run, but you would at least think that the Coogs' best offensive weapon, Bryce Beall (who only had 17 rushing yards on the day), would be utilized a bit more than he was.

But if the loss to Mississippi State was disappointing, the Cougars' 31-34 loss to crosstown rival Rice at Rice Stadium the following Saturday was downright crushing

David Piland threw an interception close to Rice's goal line on the first series, leading to a quick Rice score, and the Cougars played very flat through the entire first half. Receivers dropped easy catches. The defense allowed the Owls to get first downs on 3rd and 13 and on 2nd and 18. The secondary got burned for touchdown passes of 29 and 59 yards. Rice's defensive line was blowing up Houston's offensive line. The Owls led 14-27 at the break.

The Cougars clawed their way back in the second half, playing better defense while moving the ball more effectively, and by midway through the fourth quarter managed to take a 31-27 lead. But the Coogs then gave up a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rice, and fumbled the ball on a bad snap on fourth down in the game's closing seconds to assure an Owl victory.

The subsequent meltdown on the various UH message boards was as nasty as it was predictable. A quarterback controversy emerged as fans aligned themselves in either the David Piland camp or the Terrance Broadway camp. Fans also voiced concern about playcalling - once again, the Cougars elected to throw deep passes in certain critical situations when running the ball would have made more sense - and people began to wonder if Houston's biggest loss on offense wasn't Case Keenum but rather departed offensive coordinator Dana Holgerson. Furthermore, given the poor performance of Houston's defense - linebacker Sammy Brown was a rare bright spot, recording 5 tackles for loss and two sacks - did it really matter who was behind center or what the playcalling was like? The Cougars were especially hurt by the absence of two key defensive linemen due to injuries - Matangi Tonga (out until November) and Radermon Scypion (out for the season).

What was distressing to me is that the "easy" half of the Cougars' schedule, with five out of six games in Houston, was over, with tough games against SMU, Central Florida, Tulsa and Southern Miss left to be played. I even wondered if the Cougars, given their problems, would manage another win this season.

Fortunately, the Cougars rose to the occasion last Saturday, notching a solid 45-20 victory against SMU in Dallas. The game, which was suspended in the first quarter for two and a half hours due to weather, was arguably Houston's best of the season. David Piland had a decent outing, completing 19 of 32 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown. Tryon Carrier returned a kickoff 91 yards for a score. The much-maligned Houston defense limited the Mustangs' high-flying run-and-shoot offense to just two touchdowns; SMU quarterback Kyle Padron was sacked twice and intercepted twice. But most important was the resurgence of the Cougar running attack: Michael Hayes had 86 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, while Bryce Beall chipped in for 85 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

Having so many on-field issues and coming off such a demoralizing loss to Rice, the Cougars could very easily had folded their tent on the road and in adverse weather conditions. Instead, they fought back. At 4-3 overall and 3-1 in conference, they remain in the driver's seat in Conference USA West.

Next up for the Coogs is a trip to the Liberty Bowl to play Memphis. The Tigers are not a very good team. But then again, neither was Rice. And back-to-back road games are never easy.

Dodgeball comes to an end

Although the news is a week old at this point, this blog cannot go without noting that "Dodgeball Time" has come to an end at the University of North Texas. Faced with the reality of yet another losing season, UNT Director of Athletics Rick Villareal last week decided to relieve Todd Dodge of his duties as head coach of the Mean Green.

One could argue that it was in bad form for Villareal to fire Dodge before the season had ended, or to can him in spite of the substantial number of injuries (it turns out that the Houston Cougars aren't the only team in the nation to lose both their starting and second-string quarterbacks in a single game) the Mean Green have suffered this season.

But in the game of college football, it all comes down to wins and losses. And Todd Dodge, in spite of his pedigree as an outstanding high school football coach, could simply not find wins at the college level. He never won more than two games in any season as the Mean Green's head coach and he leaves North Texas with an abysmal 6-37 record in his three-and-a-half seasons at the helm. For a school that used to dominate, however briefly, the Sun Belt Conference and which is opening a new stadium next fall, this was simply unacceptable.

Especially considering the heartbreaking manner in which some of UNT's losses this season have occurred: a one-point loss at home to Rice last month. Another one-point loss at home to the Ragin' Cajuns early this month. These are both bad teams and these are not results that will excite the Mean Green fan base or fill UNT's new stadium next year. For that reason, a change had to be made.

Offensive coordinator Mike Canales will take over as the interim coach for the Mean Green.

Gratuitious Linkfest

As we bid farewell to September and take the quarter-turn into the three-month stretch of 2010, I thought I'd share a few links that I found interesting or amusing.

The airline mergers continue; Southwest is acquiring fellow low-cost carrier AirTran. Is this good news for travelers? Yes, for some, especially those who hate AirTran's baggage fees or who fly to or through Atlanta. Probably not for others, such as those who fly from Orlando or Baltimore.

Last spring we there was concern that North America's monarch butterfly population was decimated. Now there's evidence it might be rebounding. Perhaps we'll find out when the butterflies pass through town on their way to Mexico. That should occur any day now.

There's a reason the lottery is called the "stupid tax." Don't believe me? Try it for yourself. You'll never win.

How to write a scientific article for a MSM website. (Hence, the need for warning labels.)

This kid really, really hates Auburn University.

RIP, Mike Celizic. I enjoyed reading his college football columns and even linked to them on occasion. Another tribute here.

Also RIP George Blanda. He was a bit before my time, but I still knew him as the guy who led the Houston Oilers to the AFL's first two championships in 1960 and 1961.

Jarrett has a good discussion about the often-misunderstood relationship between urban density and transit use.

The latest conference realignment rumor involves TCU to the Big East. Nothing about conference realignment surprises me anymore, but I'll believe this one when I see it.

The 2010 edition of the Houston Press's Best of Houston is out. I'll definitely have to try out some of the restaurants they praise.

World War One has finally come to an end, just in case you were wondering.

These maps showing race and ethnicity of major US cities are truly fascinating (they're based on 2000 census data; different colors indicate different races and ethnicities; the darker or bolder the color, the denser the respective population). They tell us that, even at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century, our cities are still heavily segregated (this map of Detroit is particularly stark). For the sake of comparison, I'd really like to see if the person who put these maps together creates new maps when the 2010 census becomes available. What will Houston's 2010 map look like? More interestingly, what about New Orleans?

Meet ConquistaDora the Explorer. Yes, I laughed. And yes, I felt guilty about laughing.

Has Dubai learned its lesson? It appears that the Emirate has weathered the worst of its financial storm, but time will tell if it adopts a more sustainable development policy going forward.

What if the government gave us all a receipt when we filed our annual tax return? Would it help people better understand the nature of the federal budget and the ramifications of the tax and spending cuts that seem to be so politically popular these days?

That's all for now. I'll probably be taking a break from blogging for a few weeks. Enjoy October (and, hopefully, the cooler weather)!

Houston 42, Tulane 23

The weather was unbearable. The game wasn't pretty at times. But coming off last weekend's debacle in Pasadena, the Cougars did what they needed to do: get a win.

First, the heat: according to the weather app on my Droid, at kickoff the temperature was 90 and the "feels like" temperature (factoring the humidity) was 95. Inside Robertson Stadium, an enclosed place full of concrete and aluminum that reflects heat, the temperature at kickoff was doubtlessly about 100. Although the game was officially a sellout (32,007), many fans clearly did not use their tickets because of the heat (as well as a 30 percent chance of rain, which mercifully waited until after the game was over). A large percentage of fans who did show up left during or right after halftime; I even had Lori come and pick up Kirby at the half because he was wilting in the oppressive heat.

As for the game itself: true freshman Terrance Broadway got his first start as a college quarterback and did decently, completing 19 of 28 passes for 174 yards and rushing 11 times for another 21 yards. He led the Cougars to a 28-14 lead at halftime. However, Broadway also threw an interception and fumbled twice; his ability to run gives the offense an added weapon but the coaching staff needs to work with him on his ball handling abilities. Houston's star offensive player was running back Bryce Beall; he gained 124 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries.

Nevertheless, the Cougars stalled in the second half and allowed the Green Wave to get back into the game. Midway through the fourth quarter the Cougars were holding on to a precarious three-point lead. But the Coogs stepped up when they needed to do so: Beall broke off a 25-yard touchdown run late in the fourth to give the Cougars some breathing room, and cornerback Loyce Means intercepted Tulane quarterback Kevin Moore twice - one of the two picks he returned 42 yards for a touchdown - to seal the 42-23 win.

There were still some problem points for the Cougars: Tulane RB Albert Williams ran through the Cougar defense at will, gaining 83 yards on 14 carries, and the UH secondary was burned for touchdown passes of 13, 36 and 9 yards. One of the reasons why the Cougars stagnated on offense through most of the second half was because Tulane's defensive line was dominating Houston's offensive line. Houston's playcalling was rather "vanilla" - and therefore relatively easy to defend - as well, but that certainly had to do with the fact that an inexperienced young quarterback was running the offense.

All in all, though, this was a crucial win for the Cougars. They now head into a much-needed bye week with a 3-1 overall record and a 2-0 record in their division. Furthermore, now that UCLA has upset Texas in Austin, last week's catastrophic loss doesn't look quite so, well, catastrophic.

And let's face it: while a win over Mississippi State two weeks from now at home would be nice, it really isn't that important right now as an out-of-conference game. The Cougars' most important games - Rice, SMU and Tulsa - are coming up afterward.

Coogs suffer catastrophic 31-13 loss at UCLA

Here is a picture of myself, my brother David and my friend Joe before kickoff. We were happy at the time of this picture, which was taken by a member of Case Keenum's family. We weren't quite as happy after the game was over.

Not sure, but I think the guy who agreed to take this picture was Case Keenum's father.

If the University of Houston Cougars wanted to prove to the world that they had indeed taken their program to the next level, then last Saturday night's game - nationally-televised, on the road, against a beatable opponent from a BCS Automatic-Qualifying conference - was one that they needed to win.

Instead, the Coogs did the exact opposite: they self-destructed. They showed to the college football world that they're not "there" yet. And, in the process, the Coogs lost both their starting and backup quarterbacks for the season.

Simply put, last Saturday's 31-13 loss to UCLA at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena was a disaster of epic proportions.

Given that the Coogs under Kevin Sumlin have historically been able to get themselves motivated to play, and beat, teams from BCS-AQ conferences - see victories against Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Mississippi State last year - I'm not sure why the Cougars played as flat and as uninspired as they did against the Bruins that evening. Perhaps they saw the #23 next to their name and the 0-2 next to ULCA's name and thought the game would be a cakewalk. Maybe they found themselves in awe of California (a place several of the players had never before visited) and the storied Rose Bowl. Perhaps quarterback Case Keenum, who suffered a concussion the previous week against UTEP, was still not completely healthy going into this game, and perhaps the "will Kevin play" controversy that seemed to envelop the team over the past week was a source of distraction. Maybe Kevin Sumlin and his staff "coached scared" (in that regard, some of the playcalling was truly bizarre). For whatever reason, the Cougars looked so unprepared and out-of-sync that I truly felt like I was watching a Houston team of the Kim Helton or Dana Dimel eras.

Much credit has to be given to UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel. His team clearly has a lot of talent and was better than their 0-2 record indicated. After being embarrassed at home 0-35 by Stanford last week, his team was out to prove itself. Also, much has to be said about the difference in size and strength between the two teams' lines. Until Kevin Sumlin and his staff can recruit the "big uglies" on both the offensive and defensive lines, the Cougars will always be at a physical disadvantage in the trenches when they face opponents from BCS-AQ conferences.

But the bad play was one thing. The loss of Case Keenum for the year was something else. Keenum injured himself the exact same way he suffered a concussion the week before - attempting to run down a defensive player after throwing an interception. Only this time, he turned his knee on the field and tore his ACL. His season, and most likely his college career, is over.

Although Case Keenum hadn't been "himself" since the end of last season - he had thrown 14 interceptions in his last five games - and although the "Keenum for Heisman" campaign was an unnecessary distraction (because Heisman voters will never give that trophy to a player from a non-AQ conference, regardless of how good he is), he was still the Cougars' most important player. Losing him is a crushing blow.

Especially considering that the backup quarterback, Cotton Turner, was also knocked out for the season after a UCLA player tackled him and broke his collarbone. That left true freshman Terrance Broadway to run the show, and in spite of the pressure put upon him (taking his first-ever college snaps, on the road, in the Rose Bowl, with his team trailing badly), he performed admirably, leading the Cougars to two scores including the team's only touchdown of the game.

Still, the game was a disaster. Houston's offense sputtered even before Keenum and Turner got knocked out. Keenum's interception came on 1st and goal, which made the play a game-changer in more ways than one. UCLA didn't have much of a passing attack, but they didn't need to throw the ball when they could torch Houston's poor run defense for 266 yards. The Cougar defense, to its credit, did manage to recover two fumbles and an interception, but that really only served to keep the score from becoming even more lopsided than it was.

Seriously: how many teams lose both their first and second-string quarterbacks in the same game?

Anyway, the parameters of this season have completely changed. Quarterbacking duties will now fall to either Broadway or David Piland, who is also a true freshman. Although I've heard strong reviews about both of them, you would ideally prefer to give these players a redshirt season to bulk up and gain experience. Now one or both of these young men will have to learn on the fly. Any lingering questions about Houston's defense have also been answered: they're no better than they were last year, especially against the run. And is the team's apparent lack of focus a regression to two years ago, when Cougars fell behind early in several games? Why didn't Kevin Sumlin have these players prepared for the game? And did he give up after Keenum went down?

Anyway, now that the "BCS Buster" and "Keenum for Heisman" distractions have been eliminated, maybe this team can regroup and focus on what matters: winning Conference USA. I think it's still possible. But it just got a lot harder. Needless to say, my preseason prediction of a nine-win season has now gone out the window.

Other than the game, my friend Joe, my brother David and I had a great time in LA. Friday we rode the subway to Hollywood, visited Little Tokyo, and had an amazing dinner at an Argentinean restaurant in Old Town Pasadena. Saturday morning we drove down to Santa Monica and spent some time there walking around and exploring. We found the tailgating scene out on the golf course to be delightful. And the Rose Bowl itself was pretty impressive:Indeed, the only thing that disappointed about the trip was the game itself.