Mac Engel: Houston still just a basketball school. Should Big 12 want do-over on expansion?

Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Jan 29, 2026

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In the same season the University of Houston Cougars football team finished 10-3, beat LSU in the Texas Bowl and were No. 21 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, they were last in the Big 12 in home attendance, and 72nd nationally.

And this is in a nice, pretty on-campus facility, not the old, dumpy Astrodome (although the Astrodome is still up, which is another story).

Houston is one of the more perplexing examples of college sports’ conference expansion, and the impossibility of determining “value.” Since it was left out of the formation of the original Big 12 in 1996, the school spent feverishly to rejoin the world of major college athletics, and now that the Cougars are here, it has an ‘80s feel.

The Cougars are still a “basketball school.”

This year marks the five-year anniversary of the Big 12’s invitation to BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and Central Florida to join the league, a decision that was made two months after Texas and Oklahoma announced plans to leave for the SEC.

This is one of the those, “Knowing what you know now,” would league commissioner Brett Yormark want a do-over on adding these four schools when two years later the league would invite Utah, Colorado, Arizona State and Arizona?

The answer is a concrete Y-E-S. And equally definitive N-O.

On Wednesday night, Houston’s 10th-ranked men’s basketball team played at TCU. Of the eight schools the Big 12 has added since UT and OU planned to leave, Houston remains a good, not great, property.

Houston in the Big 12

The man that Indiana fired has turned Houston into one of the best basketball teams in the nation. Hired in 2014, coach Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars are on a run that is one of the best in the history of the state.

Houston has used its affiliation with the Big 12 to elevate its team to become a national name, and the relationship is a win-win. Since 2021, the Cougars have reached two Finals Fours and five straight Sweet 16s. They narrowly lost in the national title game last season to Florida.

These are not Guy Lewis’ Phi Slama Jama Cougars of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Sampson’s Cougars are more apt to choke the opposition rather than high-fly their way to 30 wins.

Overall, the athletic department remains defined by its ambition to win in football, and its proven success in men’s basketball. Just like the ‘80s. In the latest rankings of the Learfield Director’s Cup, a system based on the success of a school’s athletic teams in NCAA Division I, UH ranks 113th nationally, and 14th in the Big 12.

The football team, in its third season in the Big 12, had a solid year under second-year coach Willie Fritz. The challenge in 2026 is the same as it was in 1986: UH too often remains buried in its own city by the Rockets, Astros, Texans, Texas and Texas A&M. Throw in the Dallas Cowboys, too.

The Big 12’s ‘Do-Over’

Of the eight schools that the Big 12 added, BYU has been by far its greatest value. For years, BYU had been regarded as a Notre Dame lite; the concern among potential conference suitors was always juggling the needs of the school’s schedule, as often outlined by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Once that hurdle was handled, the Big 12 approving BYU has been a win. Between attendance and on-the-field/court success, the Cougars have added everything to the Big 12. They rank fourth nationally in the latest Learfield Director’s Cup standings.

They have money, spend it, and have added to the top of the Big 12.

The other seven ...

— 2. Arizona State: An OT loss against Texas in the 2024 CFP gave the Big 12 a boost; coach Kenny Dillingham makes the Sun Devils nationally relevant. The basketball team under Bobby Hurley continues to struggle.

— 3. Houston: Outstanding in basketball; the lack of home support is glaring.

— 4. Arizona: Remains one of the top basketball programs in the country; its football team has been ranked in the final Top 25 in two of the past three years.

— 5. Utah: The departure of coach Kyle Whittingham hurts a football program that has been consistently good for a decade. The basketball team has been bad for a decade.

— 6. Colorado: The only reason the Buffs rank this high is football coach Deion Sanders, whose media presence is unmatched in major college football. That value is fading fast, as he’s had one winning record in three seasons. The basketball program remains mostly barely average.

— 7. Cincinnati: Bust. No men’s basketball NCAA Tournament appearances, and one loss in a lower-tier bowl game.

— 8. Central Florida: Three straight losing years in football, one bowl appearance. No NCAA tourney appearances.