2nd Worst Ever
Historically dysfunctional: Houston's loss to Texas State makes NCAA history,brings national attention
Houston coach Tony Levine was the victim of the second largest upset in collegefootball history.
Texas State coach Dennis Franchione is getting national attention for leadingTexas State to the shockingly large win.
The Los Angeles Times is suddenly writing about the University of Houston's football team.
That's what happens when you make history — in the worst way possible. It turns out that the Cougars' season-opening 30-13 loss to a first-year FBS school that came in as a 35-point underdog wasn't just a total embarrassment for Tony Levine's program. It was an all-time historic one. For any program.
Prominent sports oddsmaker Danny Sheridan researched it and determined that UH is the victim of the second biggest upset (in terms of point spreads) ever. Only USC losing to a 41-point underdog Stanford in 2007 tops the Cougars' uninspired Labor Day weekend performance against Texas State.
Only USC losing to a 41-point underdog Stanford in 2007 tops UH's uninspired Labor Day weekend.
And USC lost that game by a point. Houston lost to Texas State by 17 — which gives the Cougars another unwelcome record.
Las Vegas' Pregame.com reports that Houston is the first team ever favored by 34 or more points to lose that game by double digits. Upsets are usually nail biters, often involving a miracle at the finish. The Cougars were simply dominated by what's supposed to be a much inferior team.
So much for any thought that pushing offensive coordinator Mike Nesbitt out the door after only one game is an overreaction.
The University of Houston wasn't just bad on Saturday night. It was historically dysfunctional.
While Levine talks about getting the ball more to playmaking running Charles Sims (an obvious first guess I made Saturday night) and pretends like he somehow had nothing to do with not making that happen against Texas State, Bobcats coach Dennis Franchione is enjoying the publicity that comes with being the architect of such a surprising win.
Franchione — who infamously suffered through a nationally-televised 77-0 loss to Oklahoma during his time leading Texas A&M — will wring as much out of this historic upset as possible. You don't get many moments like this in sports.
As for Levine and the Cougars? Just imagine if Texas A&M upsets No. 24 Florida in former UH coach Kevin Sumlin's first game as the Aggies coach Saturday afternoon and Houston turns around and loses to Louisiana Tech Saturday night to fall to 0-2. Both are distinct possibilities.
