Legislators should push to put UH in Big 12, board chair says Fertitta to Big 12: 'Be a big boy,' let UH in

The Legislature should pressure the presidents of the Big 12 schools to "step up" and let the University of Houston into the conference, the chairman of UH's Board of Regents, Tilman Fertitta, said, citing the school's size and Tier One status. less The Legislature should pressure the presidents of the Big 12 schools to "step up" and let the University of Houston into the conference, the chairman of UH's Board of Regents, Tilman Fertitta, said, citing the ... more Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Legislators should push to put UH in Big 12, board chair says 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

The Legislature should pressure the presidents of the Big 12 schools to "step up" and let the University of Houston into the conference, the chairman of UH's Board of Regents, Tilman Fertitta, said Thursday.

"Put pressure on the presidents;, say, 'If you don't do this, we're not going to fund you for this,'" Fertitta said in a meeting with the Houston Chronicle's editorial board Thursday. "It's just the way it is. That's the way to do it."

Fertitta said it's "an embarrassment" that the namesake university of the fourth largest city in the United States has not been welcomed into the conference.

"Be a big boy, step up and put this school that has almost 50,000 students and is so high profile, has so many of the top schools in the United States, it's a tier one university -- we belong in the Big 12," he said. "We're a big, major school with an unbelievable history in athletics and academia."

The Big 12 is currently made up of just 10 universities, including the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas Christian University. The commissioner of the conference said in December it's unlikely for that to change.

"Ten is what we are and I think the status quo with all 10 schools committed and with grants of rights for all our media, we're distributing the largest amount of money per school of any of the leagues right now and I don't think any of our members want to change that," Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said at Liberty Bowl game.

The Big 12 schools split TV revenue of $212 million last year.

The conference has seen four schools leave in the last few years. Colorado and Nebraska left the conference for the 2011 season, leaving it with 10 teams. Texas A&M and Missouri left the conference for the 2012 season, and were replaced by TCU and West Virginia.

TCU didn't add a TV market but had a stronger football reputation than UH.

The Legislature has lobbied for schools to join the conference in the past. In 2010, when there was a chance that Texas and Texas A&M might leave the Big 12 for the Pac-12, Baylor used its bloc in the legislature to apply pressure to be included in any realignments with Texas and A&M.

Joining the conference was among Fertitta's short list of priorities for the Legislative session, but it's unclear how much of a priority it is for UH leadership. Renu Khator, president of the university and chancellor of the UH System, was mum on the issue at Thursday's meeting.

"I don't want to go there on that issue," she said as Fertitta was calling for Legislative help.