The Houston Cougars picked up a commitment from highly-touted wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland last week. Cleveland is rated as the sixth-best receiver (60th overall) in ESPN’s top 300, and a 4-star prospect by ESPN, Rivals, and 247sports recruiting services. His Westfield High teammate, Edward Oliver, also committed to the Cougars last May. Oliver is a 5-star defensive tackle prospect rated second at his position and fourth overall in the top 300.

The commitment gives Houston the 27th rated recruiting class for 2016, Head Coach Tom Herman’s first year, according to ESPN. Rivals and 247sports rate the Cougars’ class 29th and 26th-highest, respectively. The class features one 5-star, three 4-star, and twelve 3-star prospects. Cleveland and Oliver chose Houston over the likes of Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU and Alabama, among other high-profile programs.

The 40-year-old Herman became a hot commodity after helping lead the Ohio State Buckeyes to a National Championship as offensive-coordinator last season, and again after leading the Cougars to a 12-1 overall record and a victory over #22 Temple (10-3) in the American Athletic Conference Championship this year. Despite drawing interest from South Carolina and others, he accepted a five-year contract extension earlier this month that will pay him about $2.8 million annually, up from $1.45 million in 2015, and increase his buyout to $2.5 million. The new deal will make him the highest-paid coach from any Group of Five conference, and roughly the 36th highest-paid coach overall, just behind Kansas State’s Bill Snyder and West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen.

National signing day isn’t until February 3rd, but Houston’s recruiting class is currently ranked above all Big 12 teams who dominate the region. The Big 12 recently announced a requirement to schedule at least one out-of-conference game against a Power Five conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) opponent; a move to strengthen the resume of Big 12 teams for the College Football Playoff. Some coaches, including Dana Holgorsen, have said that FBS teams shouldn’t play any FCS opponents.

2015 Big 12 Champion and fourth-ranked Oklahoma helped their resume by going on the road to play Tennessee out-of-conference earlier this season. Even with an SEC opponent, the Sooners finished with just the 29th-best schedule strength, according to ESPN.

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has repeatedly downplayed the notion of expanding the conference from ten teams to 12 and has said that the schools are split on the idea. West Virginia University Associate Athletic Director Michael Szul has expressed his doubts about the expansion as well.

“I’m not opposed, but who would you really bring in that would bring value to the conference?”, Szul said. “As of right now I think we’re at a good place.”

But what could the future hold? If year one of the Tom Herman era is any indication, Houston may be a viable candidate were an expansion necessary. Obviously, the location is perfect and he’s already shown he can steal recruits from Big 12 and SEC schools in his first year as a head coach. In 2013, Herman was named the Rivals.com Big Ten Recruiter of the Year.

Herman’s coaching roots began in Texas, in fact, where he spent his first ten seasons coaching for multiple FCS and FBS programs in the state. He was the offensive-coordinator/quarterbacks coach for three seasons at Iowa State before Urban Meyer hired him when he arrived at Ohio State in 2012. He’s quickly building a formidable program in Houston, which is no easy task with so many programs already with a foothold on the Texas recruiting base. Could he be building a future Big 12 program?

The university has shown to be all-in with its football program by proposing a brand-new, $20 million indoor practice facility. The deadline for approval of the project from the university’s Board of Regents is set for September 1st, 2016. Houston Board of Regents Chair Tilman Fertitta said locking up Herman was the priority, though. Houston lost high-profile head coach Kevin Sumlin to Texas A&M just four years ago in a similar situation and didn’t want to make the same mistake this time around.

“If you are going to soar with the eagles and play with the big boys you’ve got to step up to the plate. That’s what we did,” Fertitta said. “We said we’re going to pay him in the big dollars.”

The Cougars finished the 2015 regular season ranked 18th and earned a trip to play #9 Florida State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, a New Year’s Six bowl that will be played on New Year’s Eve at noon on ESPN. For a full list of the upcoming bowl schedule click here.