TCU, UH pursuing bigger payoffs in football
Since the breakup of the Southwest Conference 12 years ago, TCU has covered hal the country in search of the right conference.
TCU, Houston, Rice and SMU were forced to look elsewhere when Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech bolted for the newly created Big 12 Conference after the 1995 season.
For a decade, the Horned Frogs played the role of jilted lover, trying to find the right rebound situation. They've been a member of three different conferences to become the Elizabeth Taylor of college football.
The University of Houston, meanwhile, has kept the same address as a charter member of Conference USA.
"With the breakup of the SWC, we looked at the WAC as the safest harbor for TCU," said former athletic director Frank Windegger, who spent 22 years at the Fort Worth school. "There's never been a conference that we've went into thinking this maybe is the final one."
Along with being opponents in Friday's Texas Bowl at Reliant Stadium, the former SWC rivals have something else in common: hopes of one day being part of a conference with ties to the Bowl Championship Series.
So far, TCU is 0-for-3. The Frogs joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1996, left for C-USA after the 2000-01 season and moved to the Mountain West in 2005. None of those conferences are among the six with BCS affiliations.
"The schools not in these other conferences, not in the BCS, that's where they want to get," UH athletic director Dave Maggard said. "That's where we want to get."
Short of ultimate goal
TCU and Houston have enjoyed their share of success on the football field since the breakup of the SWC.
The Horned Frogs have won or shared four conference titles, which includes at least one at every stop, been to a bowl in nine of the last 10 years and a regular in the national rankings. Coach Gary Patterson adopted the slogan "Prove It" for this season after preseason experts picked TCU to become the next team to crash the BCS party.
"It's something we feel we have to prove to people," said TCU quarterback Andy Dalton, a redshirt freshman from Katy.
The Cougars' success has been more modest, with two conference titles and a recent surge with four bowls in the last five seasons.
The Frogs are riding one of their best stretches in decades, which Windegger said began with a victory over Southern California in the 1998 Sun Bowl. A year earlier, they were 1-10.
Building off that win, the Horned Frogs have had only one losing season (5-6 in 2004) since then. The Mountain West title in 2005 was the first outright for TCU since 1958.
Investing in programs
Not coincidentally, TCU has poured money into revitalizing its football program with two recent projects totaling $20 million.
The Sam Baugh indoor practice facility opened this past summer, and the Dutch Meyer Athletic Complex and Abe Martin Academic Enhancement Center are scheduled for completion next summer. The latter will add six suites and 250 club seats to the end zone at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
"It's been a tremendous explosion," Windegger said. "I've always had the feeling that if TCU, Houston, Rice and SMU would have spent the money then that we're spending now, we probably would still be alive in the SWC. TCU has really stepped forward to put out the money to get to elite status."
Since 1999, UH has spent money to renovate Robertson Stadium, increasing capacity to 30,000 and improving areas such as the grass playing surface, lighting system and video board. The Cougars spent $750,000 on renovations to the weight room last year.
In the final year of the SWC, Houston unveiled the $29.1 million Athletics/Alumni Center.
"A lot of credit needs to be given to Dave Maggard," said former UH quarterback David Klingler, who serves as color analyst for UH radio broadcasts. "When he came in, the program wasn't as good as it had been in the past. Dave has come in and turned things around."
UH won the inaugural C-USA title in 1996, but over the next nine years went 37-66 and played in only two bowls. The school hired coach Art Briles in 2003, and last year, the Cougars won 10 games and their second conference title. An 8-4 record this season ensures UH of consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1989-90.
Maggard said Utah, Boise State and Hawaii reaching BCS bowls offers hope to other non-BCS leagues.
"As time goes on, we will gain more credibility," he said. "Obviously you need a strong program and have to win."
Although there are no guarantees, Windegger believes TCU eventually will find its way into a BCS league.
"I'm pretty sure one of these days one of the major conferences will come after them," he said.
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