How would Tulsa match up

[Dan Thompson]

with the Big XII teams. Could they win any games, maybe Kansas.

[AlboSooner]

I don't think they could recruit consistently the type of talent that it takes to compete in the Big 12. If I were an athlete and I had to choose between Tulsa and Kansas, I'd choose Kansas, even if they were in the same conference.

[badger]

Full disclosure: I live in Tulsa.

There are some great reasons to choose Tulsa over Kansas. Here are a few that come to mind:

1 - Postseason play. If you were at KU the past two seasons, Turner Gill might not be poking you in the chest or talking about your homies like Mangino reportedly did, but rather, Turner would be coddling and hugging you through December since you had no bowl game to attend. TU, on the other hand, went to bowl games in both 2010 and 2011 (winning the Hawaii Bowl in 2010) and since 2005, have gone to a bowl game each year except 2009. If you want to go back even further in history, KU has been to a grand total of 12 bowl games, going 6-6. Tulsa has attended 17, going 8-9.

2- Winning. KU had a 1-16 record in the Big 12 under Turner Gill (and it was against Colorado in 2010), and an overall record of 5-19 (including a loss to FCS North Dakota State). Tulsa's three most recent coaches, Blankenship, Graham and Kragthorpe, all had winning records at TU.

So, if you are looking at recent history, the only reason a football recruit should choose KU over TU is for a non-football reason, but even there, TU has it's qualities too (like being the smallest D-1 school in football, being a private as opposed to a public school, etc).

While TU and KU have both been considered basketball schools at some point, nobody would confuse TU with a basketball school right now. So, if you don't like playing second fiddle to the other major revenue college sport, choose Tulsa!

[Sooner91ATL]

Tulsa's academic standards are too high to compete in the Big whatever we are now. One needs a modicum of intelligence to go to TU. Plus, although it is a nice place and I grew up there and wouldn't mind living there again, Tulsa is hardly a college town. TU is a great place for overlooked and niche D1 players to play upper tier talent.

[badger]

with the Big XII teams. Could they win any games, maybe Kansas.

And to answer your question, given appropriate prep time, TU could probably fare well against a majority of Big 12 schools. Alas, they lost their top receiver right before the season due to a bit of retail store issues (Read: Johnson's girlfriend and he were accused of embezzlement) and weather issues (lightning struck before the late OSU home game, causing the already late 9 p.m. kickoff to be postponed till about midnight), so they had some bad luck in facing OU and OSU this past season.

[SoonerorLater]

Think Baylor and that is pretty close to what Tulsa would be in the Big 12 both athletically and academically. Tulsa has a sound athletic department and would undoubtedly benefit in recruiting if the were in the Big 12.

[cleller]

Right now TU doesn't hang with the rest of the Big 12, but if they got in, I think they could be OK. The key would be the performance of Blankenship. With him they finally have a guy that won't leave if successful. He's got good recruiting pull in Oklahoma, including those Union and Jenks players that can handle TU's academics.

If they were in the Big 12, they'd get a few better commitments that might bring them up in the world some.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I know they would have a perfect record in baseball..

[BBQ Man]

Anyone can compete eventually (see Baylor), but it would take a long time!

[pweitkem]

Tulsa's academic standards are too high to compete in the Big whatever we are now. One needs a modicum of intelligence to go to TU. Plus, although it is a nice place and I grew up there and wouldn't mind living there again, Tulsa is hardly a college town. TU is a great place for overlooked and niche D1 players to play upper tier talent.

This. TU will never be able to be in the BigXII. Too tough to get in.

[oudanny]

I believe most years TU would battle Kansas and Iowa State for the bottom three places. Occassionally they might jump up and beat a TCU or Tech or Baylor. They would never rise above the middle of the pack.