March Madness - Texas teams' road to join Texas Western NC
- Thread starter utepader
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We just need to get to April 2 and if all goes right we can pop champagne a la Mercury Morris and the 72 Dolphins when the last Texas team loses.
I think Houston is the team to watch. I think they match up well with all their potential opponents. They got pushed by a very good San Diego State team. I think it helps teams to win a tough opening game. I like how they would matchup vs north carolina and xavier. That's the Texas school that I think can make a deep run. With the Fertitta Center opening the Coogs are posistioned to be the premiere hoops program in Texas again like they were in the 80's.
I agree. UH can be a tough matchup for anybody. I do, however, think that they are going to have to be more balanced offensively. Gray scored something like 23 of their 28 2nd half points. Aside from a 4-5 minute cold spell, he was en fuego.
Good assessment, IMO. UH starts 6'8, 6'6, and three guards, yet out-rebounds almost everybody. Gray has been the best player in the tournament after the first round. Coogs get Michigan tomorrow night, match up with AnM in semis is possible (God, please). And yes, the $60 million Fertita Center will be a palace, by far superior to anything in the Big 12.
UH was worse than bad and Hoffeinze Pavilion was a dump when Sampson took over four years ago (almost 50 years old). They got the right guy and then invested big time in the program. I see a direct potential corollary and model for UTEP IF the administration and key donors get behind the program.
Big 12 had a chance to add Cincinnati and Houston last year. Let that sink in, Big 12...
Houston did it the right way. First they took care of football built a great facility that can easily be expanded to 60,000. Then when football was built up they focused on basketball. They took a huge risk and diverted huge amounts of money into athletics. It was totally unsustainable but it a bet they made on themselves and it's paaid off. UH has visionaries in leadership posistion They always believed they were an equal to any institution in Texas. They had a rough 15 years I had a front row seat and witnessed the dark days. They almost UAB'd the program. The facilities were s*** the attendance was s*** the donors were non existent. The turn around has been nothing short of amazing. It's because they had leaders and fans who always thought they were equal to anyone. In 2004 UTEP and UH were on equal footing. UH blew by UTEP because they had vision and belief. I had my issues with UH fans and administration during our eight years as conference. However, I respect everything they've done. The difference is they believe they belong we dont.
When they were in cusa UH fans and admin were worried about and focused on how they could compete a&m and Texas not UTEP and SMU. At UTEP we have no vision. Half our fans are t-shirt fans of the whorns. Half of our fan base is obsessed with NMSU. It's sad how some of our fans are worried about NMSU. I don't know why any one at UTEP cares, our expectations should go beyond anything involving NMSU. But they do and that's always going to be a problem. We have no vision. We make excuses why football sucks. We make excuses for basketball. Nobody from the leadership down believes UTEP is any better than NMSU or UTSA. We have a losers mentality. Thats the difference Houston has vision and belief. They didnt compare themselves to Lamar and strive just to be a little bit better than the cardinals. That would be as stupid as UTEP's bizzare obsession with NMSU. UH has a winners mentality. UTEP lacks vision and we dont shoot for the top. Thats the difference in the two schools. I envy the vision and leadership UH has.
UH has access to millions through its corporate fundraising department. UTEP's is non-existent. It
taps into the hundreds of corporate headquarters that it has in the Houston area. I know this because I have family that was doing corporate fundraising for UH. she actually reached out to UTEP when they were thinking about moving back to El Paso. UTEP has no one that does this and when she was to meet with UTEP about ramping up their outreach, they didnt seem at all interested. Success in college athletics now basically depends on corporate fundraising. we are way past the days of the El Dorados.
taps into the hundreds of corporate headquarters that it has in the Houston area. I know this because I have family that was doing corporate fundraising for UH. she actually reached out to UTEP when they were thinking about moving back to El Paso. UTEP has no one that does this and when she was to meet with UTEP about ramping up their outreach, they didnt seem at all interested. Success in college athletics now basically depends on corporate fundraising. we are way past the days of the El Dorados.
NY/NJminer: If you know anything about the University of Houston, you know it was founded by the Cullen family for the common man, students of the city's working class who typically had to work their way through school to get an education. You also know that the Texas Constitution expressly targets the University of Texas and Texas A&M as sole recipients of state funds typically derived from oil production. UH may have access to millions, but "wealthy" has never been used in the same sentence with UH. We may have "access to millions" but that is a far cry from having millions. Even today, Houston is denied untold monies in athletics by being denied membership in the Big 12, despite having superior athletic programs and facilities to current Big 12 members. Another poster accurately credited visionary leadership and an insatiable appetite for success by the alumni, friends, and fans for its success. The city has stepped up and provided support. In tonight's UH/Michigan basketball game, notice the "For the City" warmup shirts worn by the team.
Point? There is absolutely NOTHING Houston has done or will do - academically or athletically - that UTEP cannot do with visionary leadership and commitments. Except make excuses...
Point? There is absolutely NOTHING Houston has done or will do - academically or athletically - that UTEP cannot do with visionary leadership and commitments. Except make excuses...
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One major obstacle for UTEP will always be recruiting. We don’t have 4-5 star athletes in our backyard willing to play for their hometown.
I think we are in agreement to a point. Yes, UTEP has done a horrible job with corporate fundraising. Like I said, they have a staff of like one person that is paid nowhere near what most universities pay for that type of position. There has been a lack of leadership and vision that UTEP can improve when it comes to fundraising. Here is UH campain: http://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2017/January/01182017HereWeGo.php. When my family member, who has had an instrumental role with UH's campaign, talked with UTEP, they totally dropped the ball and said they were "fine" or couldn't devote that much money to it. There are also people at UTEP that care more about their jobs and keeping the do-nothing status quo. They are threatened by people that might be able to do their jobs better.
However, you can't deny the fact that UH has more alumni that have more connections to fortune 500 companies in the houston area. It is also in the best interest of companies in the houston area to support the local university. UTEP is hurt by the fact that we lack those corporate powerhouses in the El Paso . Yes, UTEP can do a much, much better job. Look at their corporate fundraising page and compare it to UH: https://givingto.utep.edu/page.aspx?pid=1412. They should probably look to Mexican alumni that work in the maquiladora industry in Juarez, Chihuahua, etc. UTEP always seems to go to the same local sponsors. You can't deny the fact that UH has an advantage being in Houston. It is a corporate city. Medium-sized cities like El Paso are at a big disadvantage.
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I have always believed that UTEP has no marketing department, if they do it’s piss poor. It’s obvious they don’t try to get corporations involved nor do they do much to attract fans. This is just lazy leadership. Even without access to major corporations they could do much more.
Natalicio got Trump elected via UTEP engineering department for Cambridge Analytica.UTEP is a always screwing stuff up.
I'm sure TAMU lovers on here are tickled pink because TAMU is up big on UNC. Damn tar heels! One game I want them to win and they're blowing it.
Didn't there used to be some wussy on here that would "send" tamale baskets to teams that beat losing Texas teams?
LMAO
LMAO
I don't care if Texas Tech goes to Final 4 actually I hope they do. I go for Texas Teams as long as they don't win it all. So go as far as you want, but just don't win it all I say lol
Losing last week on two late missed free throws and then a Hail Mary buzzer beater, you can only imagine how MY team felt last night watching UM drop 99 on AnM and literally embarrass them on the biggest of stages. Speed and defense, or in AnM's case, lack thereof...
Kind of like UTEP losing by 2 to Cincinnati in the round of 16, only to watch Cinci crush Memphis by 31 in the elite 8 and then take the Michigan Fab 5 down the wire in the final 4?
My most heart breaking Miner moment...ever. That was such a good UTEP team. Sigh...
If Evans stays healthy, Kansas is neither Big 12 Champion nor a #1 seed. Tech looks like they start 5 power forwards who can all run, jump, shoot, and defend. Don't sleep on Tech against Villanova...
I like how the Red Raiders go get the ball. Also a much better shooting team than I gave them credit for. Hadn’t paid too much attention to them until tourney time other than knowing they were hanging in there in the Big12, and were highly ranked for part of the season.
Yeah, I think they’ll give Villanova a run for their money. They match up pretty evenly size wise. I usually just give Jay Wright’s teams the benefit of the doubt because...well, theyre a Jay Wright coached Nova team, but I hope Tech beats the shit out of them like they did Purdue.
Yeah, I think they’ll give Villanova a run for their money. They match up pretty evenly size wise. I usually just give Jay Wright’s teams the benefit of the doubt because...well, theyre a Jay Wright coached Nova team, but I hope Tech beats the shit out of them like they did Purdue.
Big 12 had 4 teams in the Sweet 16, 3 in the Elite 8. They had the chance to add Cincinnati and Houston to the mix last year, think about those possibilities as the nation's premier collegiate basketball conference. But no...
SEC was pathetically over-hyped this year. PAC 12 was just, well, pathetic.
SEC was pathetically over-hyped this year. PAC 12 was just, well, pathetic.
If they win I’m very tempted to go see them in San Antonio. Of course I’ll wear my UTEP polo but I’m curious to experience the atmosphere.
I’m sure it’ll be rockin’ at the Alamodome. Especially if Tech gets in. I’d probably go to if it wasn’t 4hundo a ticket.
Yea I was looking at the ticket prices and uhh not sure anymore. If Tech makes it we can expect that ticket price to increase even more.
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