The Houston Cougars insisted all along they had proved their worth as a bowl-eligible team, and they were proved correct Sunday.
After sweating out a few tense days, the Cougars were selected to play in the Dec. 23 Fort Worth Bowl, where they will take on Kansas from the Big 12 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
When the Cougars finally received the word, there was a mixture of joy and relief.
“One of the reasons that we were anxious to be in this bowl this year is to get back on the national stage,” said UH athletic director Dave Maggard, who spent hours on the phones in an effort to assure the Cougars a spot in the bowl picture. “That is always our goal. We are looking forward to it.”
The Cougars (6-5) went down to the wire, beating crosstown rival Rice 35-18 in the final game of the regular season to become bowl-eligible for the second time in three years.
But with Conference USA having six bowl-eligible teams — Tulsa, Central Florida, UTEP, Memphis, Southern Mississippi and Houston — and only five bowl tie-ins — Liberty, GMAC, Hawaii, Fort Worth and New Orleans — all involved had to sit and wait for decisions to be made.
When Tulsa defeated UCF in the conference championship game, the pieces began to fall into place for the Cougars to start packing for Fort Worth. The Liberty Bowl agreed to take Tulsa, and the GMAC Bowl got UTEP, the teams that were ahead of Houston on the Fort Worth Bowl’s wish list.
“You always sweat it out when you are not sure,” said Cougars coach Art Briles. “We know we had six bowl teams and five bowls. You just never know how people are going to respond to you.
“I always felt like we were worthy because of the type of team that we had. I knew we were going to work through Dave and our athletics department to do what was best for our football team and our university.
“All of those things eased my mind a little bit, but you never really know until they reach out and shake your hand.”
Shot at Big 12 team
When the hand-shaking was finished, all six Conference USA teams eligible for bowls landed bids, with Central Florida going to the Hawaii Bowl to play Nevada, Southern Miss heading to the New Orleans Bowl to face Arkansas State, and Memphis bound for the Motor City Bowl to take on Akron.
“This has been an incredibly exciting season in Conference USA,” said C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky, “and we are very pleased that six of our schools will be able to enjoy the postseason experience and all that surrounds it.”
That’s especially true for the Cougars.
Not only were Briles and Maggard fretting about UH’s postseason chances, but the players were as well.
“We’re really excited,” said senior tight end Blade Bassler, who grew up in Rockdale, not too far from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “We didn’t know who was getting in. Honestly, I didn’t have good thoughts about it, but I found out (Saturday) night that things were going in the right direction.
“When I woke up (Sunday) morning, I got the good news from coach (Briles). We’re excited. This is going to be a big game for us, playing against a Big 12 team. That’s going to be a good matchup, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Kansas solid on defense
The game will feature the Cougars’ offense, which is ranked No. 20 in the nation (456.5 yards and 29.5 points per game) against Kansas, which has the nation’s 19th-ranked defense (308.6 yards and 22.8 points per game).
“We are the only (bowl-bound) Conference USA school that has beaten a (team from a BCS conference),” Briles said, referring to the Cougars’ 28-16 victory over the SEC’s Mississippi State on Oct. 22.
East Carolina, which finished 5-6, defeated Duke of the ACC.
Great time to be Cougar
Several members of the football team were at Hofheinz Pavilion Saturday to see the basketball team knock off No. 15 Arizona 69-65, with many storming the floor afterward to join the postgame celebration.
“This has been a great weekend to be a University of Houston Cougar,” said senior running back Anthony Evans, who was among those dancing on Guy V. Lewis Court. “I really can’t explain how good it is to put on the red and white every day and be proud to be a Cougar.
“Look at the things that have happened — we’ve gotten to a bowl, and we beat two nationally ranked teams in basketball (the Cougars knocked off No. 25 LSU on Tuesday), which hasn’t happened since 1984. That’s great. It’s awesome to be a Cougar athlete.”
