Kevin Whited has this interesting post over at PubliusTX.net about the demise of the old and beloved (at least in Texas) Southwest Conference, and how former University of Houston Athletic Director Bill Carr flubbed the chance to shoehorn UH into the Big 12 Conference.
I was quite close to the Jack Pardee–John Jenkins coaching staffs at UH, and I ended up representing Jenks in the settlement of his contract with UH (but that’s the subject of an entirely longer post!). The info in Kevin’s post is pretty much the way I remember it and his point about Baylor’s acceptance into the Big 12 as being a booby prize is right on the mark.
For most of their existence, UH’s athletic programs have generally competed very well despite fewer resources than most of their competitors. For years, several of the old Southwest Conference schools refused to agree to admitting UH until Darrell Royal and the few other statesmen in the SWC lobbied for UH’s admission. I’m sure that UH will continue to face similar obstacles in attempting to join one of the BCS Conferences (the Southeastern Conference probably makes the most sense). But it would be great for Houston to have UH’s athletic programs back in a major conference.