I’m a University of Houston (UH) fan stopping by to welcome you all to the Big 12 conference!
I traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah a few years ago on business, but I had a chance to explore the state, and I must say, it’s one of the prettiest places I’ve ever traveled to. The people I ran into were incredibly friendly and I never felt out of place.
I love picking up souvenirs from the places I stop at and I ended up grabbing a Utah hat and a few shirts during my time there. My son wore that hat all the time and would yell “U! U! U!” whenever he wore it for some reason. I kept telling him “I’m not sure that’s a real chant they do…” lol
Anyway…
I’ve been a fan of you all since the Urban Myer days and I always felt that Utah could smack anyone in the mouth if they were underestimated. Academically, you guys are elite and will raise the Big12’s academic profile.
I was thrilled to learn that UH scheduled the Utes for a couple of future non-conference games a while back, but now that we’re conference mates, I’m looking forward to our conference match-ups.
Excited to have the Pac12 Champs join the Big12 and I can’t wait to bring my family to see y’all. (My son may be the only UH fan wearing a Ute hat yelling a silly chant)
Go Coogs and Go Utes!
Edit To Add: If you have any questions about the University of Houston or the city of Houston in general, please ask away.
Welcome to the board. If there is something we are learning, it is the more things change, the more things stay the same. Yes, regularly traveling to the West Coast to play in the Rose Bowl, Coliseum, Autzen, and Husky Stadiums is off the menu, but winning more conference hardware always is still the goal. We’ve been on a good run for a while now. When some of us were students back in the 1980’s our team was bad, and the stadium was worse. Many of us from that era are still amazed with where we are today.
It’s good to see new folks like yourself welcoming us. We received a warm welcome from the PAC in 2010. Transitioning from a G5 conference to a P5 was a bit of work, but we figured it out. Your school will experience much of the same, just keep the faith - Colorado and BYU will always be there for a guaranteed win and your band will still sound like a million bucks.
Anyway, enjoy your visits here, and for your kid, the chant is GO UTES!
Some here are bitter about the PAC12 implosion, so don’t take anti-Big12 comments too seriously. I’ll miss being in a league where teams are fairly close together (instead of spread all over the country) but that is how things are going.
Looking forward to building new rivalries in the new conference (and cheering on all the league members in March Madness). Hopefully Utah can build its men’s hoops program back up as this league is very strong (with even the newcomers having good programs).
I’ll start with a couple of questions (and thanks also for inviting questions). I’ve been to Houston a few times but only on quick business troops. So:
What are the can’t-miss dining options near your stadium? Other sites in Houston that visitors would enjoy? And the preferred hotels near the stadium?
Thanks, King Coog (and for a very important spelling distinction!)
Many here were pushing for UH as a PAC expansion candidate after the LA schools left, so we ended up together, anyway.
When I was in Jr HS my dad took us on a road trip to see the Utes play the Bill Yeoman-coached Coogs in the Astrodome. Decades later I had a coworker who played on that 77 UH team led by QB Danny Davis. Small world!
Would really like to be in the same division with the Houston Coogs.
I’m excited to be in the Big 12. I will miss the P12 but I love how wide open the Big 12 is. There is no Texas or USC to be ranked top 10 no matter how good/bad they actually are.
Every year will be a fight for #1 and that’s awesome. A real opportunity to make a big name for oneself.
Speaking of that, whenever friends or neighbors of mine would say go cougs I would always ask what time is Houston playing? They would always look at like what? Maybe now they will understand.
Great questions LAUte! And forgive me if this becomes a long post.
For near or inside campus eating you’ll find several of the national chains like Chick Fill A, Subway, Taco Cabana and others, but there two places that are top favorites for everyone who visits:
Pink’s Pizza (Coog owned awesome pizza)
Frenchy’s Chicken (fantastic cajun fried chicken)
You can’t go wrong with either one. If you’re feeling adventurous and want to immerse yourself in the city, a 5 min drive from campus will give you iconic Houston eateries like:
The Original Mama Ninfa’s - a well renown Mexican restaurant (incredible food)
The Breakfast Club - a chicken and waffles joint that is incredibly popular (come early because the lines to this place is LONG).
Trill Burgers - opened by Houston Rapper Bun B, the burgers are amazing and you might find occasional Houston celebrities stop by. Drake was there a few weeks ago at the location near UH.
For sites to see, here are a few I recommend:
NASA JSC - a 30 min drive from campus, but VERY worth the trip
Houston Museum of Natural Science - largest complete triceratops in existence and one of the largest complete diplodocuses that takes up almost half the exhibit. They also have a great earth science exhibit that the major oil companies paid to construct.
Herman Park is a great place to unwind, walk or run around. Very pretty and filled with activity.
Rice Village is another place I would recommend. As the name implies, it’s near Rice University (10 mins from UH) and there’s all sorts of shops and restaurants to try there.
For Hotels, I recommend the Hilton inside the University of Houston. It’s really nice and puts you right in middle of campus and a short walk away from the Stadium. If you can’t get a room there, your best bet is to find a hotel in Downtown Houston. The 3 best near campus are Marriot Marquis Houston, Houston ICON, Le Meridien. There are plenty of other great hotels, but those are my favs.
If you’re a big spender, try The Post Oak Hotel. It’s own by billionaire UH alum Tillman Fertitta. It’s incredibly swanky and Tillman hosts football and basketball recruits there. He kinda owns UH so you’ll see his name around campus quite a bit, especially during basketball season.
One very important thing to keep in mind. If you’re visiting UH, you have to keep mind that the surrounding area around campus can be a bit rough. The area is called 3rd Ward and it’s slowly getting gentrified by investors, but still being developed. For reference, a UH buddy of mine who went to USC for grad school tells me the area around USC felt similar to the area around UH. All the places I’ve mentioned are safe for you and your families, but I would not recommend venturing outside of campus unless you know exactly where you’re going. Houston is a very much a big city in every sense.
There’s plenty more to mention but that’s what I came up with off the top of my head.
I’m so glad you mentioned the spelling of Coog. Yes, we shorten Cougars to Coogs… for some reason that I have NO idea about lol.
Thank you for sharing that awesome memory about your dad! Yeah, people here still talk about the Yeoman years being UH’s golden era of football. Before he passed away, he would occasionally show up to games in his wheelchair and huge crowds would follow him wherever he went just to get a glimpse of him. He was quite simply a Houston Legend.
I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this story before, but I think it’s appropriate in regards to your story.
When passengers wearing a “Y” hat or shirt were deplaning, I would give them a thumbs up and say go Yale
Additional places to go not on/near campus but real close is EaDo with Truckyard, 8th Wonder, Miss Carousel, Indianola, Rodeo Goat, District 7, and J-Bar. If you make your way down Scott Street northbound, there is Voodoo Queen and White Rhino. If you want to play some Pickle Ball or walk 9 holes, you can drive a little further across the bayou to East River 9 and watch games while sun sets behind the skyline. Great bar and grill there.
Also, if you want to bar hop on the north side and get 1st class food at one of the most sought after restaurants inside the loop, head over to White Oak and eat at Cultivare and then mosey on over to Christian’s Tailgate, Little Woodrow’s, or Bobcat Teddy’s for craft beers and game watching. All good atmospheres and walking distance from each other.
