Houston AD met with Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott (Update)
Update: Monday, July 18 – 8:30 p.m. ET
As expected, there weren’t any legs to the reported Houston-to-Pac-12 discussions. Houston AD Hunter Yurachek told CBS that Pac-12 commish Larry Scott said in their June meeting that the Pac-12 is “not interested in expanding.”
The meeting, Yurachek said, lasted 30-to-45 minutes and did not involve any sort of Houston sales pitch.
“I emailed his office,” Yurachek said. “He agreed to meet me and spent 30 or 45 minutes with me. I had never met Larry Scott in my life.”
Carry on.
Original story: Monday, July 18 – 7:15 p.m. ET
Houston is hoping to land a spot in an expanded Big 12, but it appears to be looking at another conference, too.
The Houston Chronicle reported Monday that Hunter Yurachek, Houston’s athletic director, took a trip to the west coast to meet with Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott in June.
Yes, really.
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After the report emerged, both sides confirmed the meeting took place. A Pac-12 spokesman described the meeting to Fox 26 as “introductory” and said it took place the Pac-12 offices in San Francisco.
“Hunter requested the meeting and the commissioner took it in our office,” Pac-12 senior vice president of public affairs Erik Hardenbergh told Fox.
Yurachek said he met with Scott while traveling to watch Houston’s track and field team at the NCAA championships. Yurachek used his time with Scott to “pick his brain on a myriad of topics related to the future of college athletics,” he said.
Both the Chronicle (citing a “university source”) and Fox 26 are reporting that expansion was likely a part of their discussion. Whether the topic was well received by Scott is anybody’s guess.
The timing of this tidbit’s emergence doesn’t seem like much of a coincidence. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the league will discuss expansion on Tuesday, so it could be an effort on Houston’s part to put some pressure on the Big 12. If the Pac-12 wanted Houston, which has been a clear candidate to join an expanded Big 12 all along, it could (but likely won’t) place an impetus of sorts on the Big 12 to make a decision.
There has been no indication from Pac-12 officials that the league is planning to add members, so it could be a fruitless endeavor for Houston.
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Houston is currently a member of the American Athletic Conference and has made it no secret that it wants to join a Power Five league. With Tom Herman at the helm of Houston’s football program, which is coming off a 13-1 season, the Cougars are definitely trending up. But Houston isn’t the only school trying to earn a coveted place in a Power Five conference. Schools like Cincinnati, BYU, Memphis, Boise State, UConn and others have all been linked to the Big 12 – which currently has just 10 members – in one way or another.
Bowlsby previously said he hoped to have the issue resolved by the end of the summer.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
