BLEEDING BLUE AND GOLD
Ibumped into former Rockdale State Champion Coach Jeff Miller at one of the Tiger baseball games this spring. Even with his success at Cy-Fair he is still the same humble guy. No doubt he’s one of the best in a lot of ways.
All of that made me dig Dave Campbell’s Texas Football 2024 magazine out of the trash one more time to see where Coach Miller’s Cy-Fair Bobcats were predicted to finish this year.
Last year Coach Miller led his alma mater to an undefeated district record of 7-0 and an overall record of 11-2 and they were regional semifinalists. The Bobcats are slated to be district champions again in District 17-6A and ranked at No. 32 in the state.
Texas Football does not mind putting on some pressure by writing, “The Bobcats must replace a stellar group of seniors that led them to a regional semifinal appearance, but that doesn’t mean the expectations are any lower for the most consistent program in Cy-Fair ISD.”
They report, “The offense will reload, but the defense will shine.”
Cy-Fair is in a district competing with Houston Stratford, Houston Memorial, Cypress Falls, Jersey Village, Cypress Creek, Cypress Ridge and Houston Northbrook.
We look forward to your continued success Coach Miller! Go Bobcats! —ka— Does anyone remember the Southwest Conference? It was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference that had almost nothing but schools from Texas.
Does anyone remember when the Cotton Bowl meant something and it was played in the Cotton Bowl?
Before the Southwest Conference went the way of the buffalo, the winner of the SWC played in the Cotton Bowl and typically played a major independent (Notre Dame, Penn State) or a runner up from the Southeastern Conference.
Here are a couple of fun facts. Notre Dame became a national champion when playing in the Cotton Bowl and beating Texas in 1977. The Longhorns would have been national champions in 1983/1984 but they lost in the Cotton Bowl to Georgia 10-9.
Like I said the Cotton Bowl meant something a million years ago.
Back in the day, the SWC membership was Baylor, Rice, SMU, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, University of Houston, Texas Tech and the University of Arkansas. The Razorbacks left for the SEC in 1990-1991 and really the heyday was over for the SWC in the late 1980’s.
The SWC was not just known for it’s football, under Coach Cliff Gustafason, the Longhorns baseball team won national titles in 1975 and in 1983. The Houston Cougars basketball team went to three consecutive Final Fours in 1982, 1983 and 1984.
We can really blame Arkansas for the nails in the coffin. After they split for the SEC, Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech joined the Big Eight football conference and it became the Big 12. Rice, TCU and SMU joined the Western Athlet-ic Conference and Houston became part of the newly- formed Conference USA.
We are seeing new shifts again in what was a great conference, the Big 12. Until recently member schools were: Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, West Virginia University.
Texas and Texas A&M were the catalysts this time for the break up, along with Oklahoma University and Missouri. All four of these schools have left the Big 12 to join the SEC.
The Big 12 then, anxious to stay alive, went shopping at garage sales to pick up schools like BYU, Cincinnati, UCF and Houston (sorry, Houston seems so random). Since the announcement of these teams, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State and Utah have joined and you have what seems like dysfunction junction, a real patchwork of schools from all over the United States with very little in common.
It’s all about the money right?!
You can’t blame Texas, Texas A&M or OU for bolting. Big dogs want to run with the big dogs (by the way TCU has won 8 out of the last 10 games against Texas, just saying; Texas does own the overall record in match ups, 64-28-1).
It is sad however that smaller, even private schools, end up with leftovers and you wonder why they did not put some thought and effort into what was next, but even for them it’s about the money.
Too bad they did not try to revive some form of the old SWC. Too bad the private and Christian-based schools did not try to create a super conference with an emphasis on basketball like we see in the East. TCU, Baylor, Rice, SMU could have asked Houston Baptist University (now Houston Christian University, a D1 school) to join along with Oral Roberts University.
I’m also not sure how Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma best represent the southeast? But what do I know?
Go Frogs!
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