ON THE FIELD
Our journey to the Big 12.
COUGARS JOIN BIG 12 CONFERENCE IN 2023
The University of Houston will end its decadelong American Athletic Conference membership to join the Big 12 Conference next fall.
“The competition will be fierce, but we are primed and ready to accept the challenge,” says Renu Khator, University of Houston president.
Chris Pezman, vice president for athletics, attributes this win to the exceptional leadership, unwavering courage and relentless drive of the Houston Cougars.
“We are less than a year away from Big 12 competition and assuming our place in the Power Five,” Pezman says. “We’ve worked for three decades to get to this point. Rest assured that we will rise to this ultimate challenge.”
The Big 12 Conference will be the seventh league Houston Athletics has competed in during its illustrious history.
Houston Athletics Highlights
- 1,075 All-American Award Winners
- 162 conference championships
- 17 NCAA team national championships
- 68 NCAA individual national crowns
1927
The University of Houston is founded.
Men's Basketball begins with a 62-35 win against North Texas. Men's Football plays its first game in program history.
Shasta the Cougar becomes the official UH mascot.
Football defeats University of Dayton 26-21 in its first bowl appearance in Phoenix.
Men's Golf wins its third straight NCAA Team National Championship. Phil Rodgers becomes the second straight Cougar to win the NCAA individual championship. Warren McVea becomes the first African American to take the field in an SEC stadium.
Men's Basketball heads to the NCAA Championship Final Four.
UH defeats No. 1 UCLA in college basketball's “Game of the Century,” the first nationally televised regular-season college basketball game in prime time.
Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller becomes the first Cougar to win The Masters.
Carl Lewis wins the NCAA Championship in the outdoor men's long jump with a leap of 8.35m.
Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon leads Phi Slama Jama to consecutive national title games.
Bill Walton named UH Volleyball head coach; he would become the program's winningest head coach, with 458 career wins.
Quarterback Andre Ware wins the Heisman Trophy.
Softball program begins.
UH Soccer plays inaugural season.
Anastasia Pozdniakova wins NCAA National Championship 1-Meter Diving.
UH is recognized as a tier-one institution.
TDECU Stadium opens.
Outdoor Track and Field begins a streak of five straight AAC titles.
A $60M renovation transforms Hofheinz Pavilion into the Fertitta Center.
Men's Basketball claws its way into the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.
UH accepts invitation to the Big 12 Conference.
2023
UH to begin competing in the Big 12.
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