Adding Houston to the Big 12 would be disastrous for OSU

I’ve seen just about every speculatory “Big 12 expansion candidate” list that has been made in the wake of possible conference expansion. And every list I’ve seen has named Houston as one of several schools looking to make the jump to the Power Five.

And while adding a very competitive football team and respectable athletics program sounds great for the conference, I’m here to tell you why the Big 12 shouldn’t even consider yet another Texas team.

One word: Recruiting.

With Tom Herman at the helm, Urban Meyer’s understudy, the Cougars rakeddd (with three d’s!) on the recruiting trail with an incredible 2016 class that ranked No. 40 nationally, and first in the AAC. (OSU ranked No. 44 nationally and No. 6 in the Big 12, for comparisons sake.)

For context, UH only added 19 players in the 2016 class.  A very small recruiting class that still made it in the top 40 for a team in the AAC.

Could Houston take recruits from our southern bro’s within the conference, as Kyle noted earlier this week? Absolutely.

Unfortunately, however, OSU would not be immune to recruiting thefts, either. Remember Josh Jones, 2015 offensive lineman who flipped from OSU to UH? That happened when UH was in the AAC! Can you imagine a world where UH and OSU are on the same playing field?

Regardless of football success, tradition, etc., Texas high school prospects more often than not stay within their state if they have a choice. Especially with recruiting powerhouse schools Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and TCU to choose from. Add Houston to the mix, and the recruiting picture for OSU in Texas only gets more muddled.

For a broader scope, let’s evaluate some of Houston’s top dog signees and how they measure up.

Josh Jones – Offensive Lineman (2015)

Jones was an OSU commit in August 2014 and opened his recruitment up early February, just days before national signing day. Unfortunately, offensive line coach Bob Connelly bolted for USC just before signing day, which may have certainly factored into his decision. University of Houston is only about 20 miles away from Bush High School, where Jones attended. The same school that also produced Emmanuel Ogbah and Russell Okung.

Jones last second departure also lead to a last minute pickup of Port Allen, LA offensive tackle prospect Marcus Keyes, who could be a contributor at left tackle this season.

Tyreik Gray – Running back (2015)

Gray left the Houston football program after just one game, where he had just one rushing attempt and recorded -2 yards. Gray was a four-star prospect from Lamar High School.

The 2016 is the class that really caught national attention. They lured five-star Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver away from bluebloods like OU, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, and a slew of others. On top of that, they also signed two four-star prospects.  One more than OSU did last year — and OSU’s only 2016 four-star signee is now headed to junior college.

The Cowboys have 51 players from Texas on the active online roster. That’s more than 57% of the team makeup that comes from the Texas area. So for a team like Oklahoma State who heavily relies on the fertile Texas recruiting grounds each year, adding another team within the Lone Star state to the conference would be a nightmare scenario for not only OSU, but for many Big 12 teams who heavily rely on success on the recruiting trail in Texas.

If Houston can lock down Houston area talent as a member of the AAC, just imagine the likely boost of success they would get with a jump to the Big 12. OSU has recently found Houston area success, landing prospects such as Josh Mabin, Keenen Brown, Rennie Childs and others in recent years. But with a boost jumping to the Big 12, OSU could potentially see fewer prospects from that area turning their attention to Stillwater and more focusing on staying in their town and playing for their city.