The University had been waiting for years to pounce on the opportunity to join one of college athletics’ power conferences whenever the opportunity arose.
It appeared as if the Cougars’ chance to finally take a seat at the table as a member of one of the Power Five conferences had arrived in 2016 when the Big 12 considered expanding.
But those plans quickly fell apart and UH was left waiting once again, as it had been since the old Southwest Conference disbanded in 1996.
Now after 26 long years of waiting, the University is less than a year away from finally becoming a member of a Power Five conference after accepting an invite to join the Big 12 in September 2021.