Cougars To The Big East? Houston's Board Of Regents Approve Chancellor To Stay Or Leave C-USA

With conference realignment the soup du jour, Houston's Board of Regents have made a decision to uplift the Cougars into big-time college football. Per the Associated Press:

Houston regents will meet Thursday to authorize the school chancellor to negotiate a move to a new conference. #cougars #cusa #bigeast - @AP_Top25 via Twitter

Per Sam Khan of the Houston Chronicle:

Exact wording regarding conference affiliation on #UH BOR meeting agenda: "Approval is requested to delegate authority to the Chancellor to negotiate and execute a contract for athletic conference affiliation and to negotiate and provide notice of contract cancellation as necessary."

So what does all of this mean?

The Cougars have given their leadership permission to leave Conference-USA and make a deal to give their football program a promotion. Houston could have to wait as soon as a few weeks or as long as a few months due to their status in pecking order. The SEC will have to decide if Missouri will be the 14th member of their conference and the Big 12 will have to decide if Missouri leaves, then who will replace them. West Virginia? BYU?

Houston could look to supplement what TCU was thought to bring to the Big East when it initially signed last year, before reneging on their agreement and joining the Big 12 a few weeks ago.

Case Keenum, Ryan Tannehill Named 2011 Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalists

After leading Houston to a 7-0 record and becoming the NCAA's career leader in total offense this weekend, Houston Cougars QB Case Keenum is beginning to receive some national acclaim, as he was named one of 16 semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien award, given to the top college QB in the country.

Unsurprisingly, given the huge numbers of college QB's coming from the Texas high school ranks in recent years, he's joined by a few Big 12 QB's: Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill, Oklahoma's Landry Jones, Texas Tech's Seth Doege and Baylor's Robert Griffin III.

Tannehill, after taking over the QB job as a junior last season, has emerged as a star in his own right, completing 65.3% of his passes for 2,005 yards with 16 TD's and 5 INT's this season. CBS Sports currently has him as the No. 8 senior prospect in the country among all positions, and first as among QB's, as Stanford's Andrew Luck is still only a redshirt junior.

Keenum, meanwhile, is viewed more skeptically by NFL scouts due to his size, his age as a sixth-year senior as well as his level of competition in a non-BCS conference. CBS Sports has him as the No. 10 senior QB in the country, behind such luminaries as East Carolina's Dominique Davis.

Houston Vs. Marshall Score: Case Keenum Sets NCAA Record In A Route, 63-28

The Houston Cougars kept their dominating streak alive for another week and improved to 7-0 by easily defeating the Marshall Thundering Herd 63-28. Prior to this game some Marshall players wanted to take out Keenum by injuring him so that they could see the backup. Well, Marshall did get to see Cotton Turner who is Keenum's back up, but it was due to how well Keenum was performing and not for taking him out.

In this game Keenum surpassed former Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang to become the all-time total yards leader in NCAA history. Chang had 16,910 yards and Keenum surpassed that in the first half and ended up with over 17,000 total yards once he came out of the game.

On the day Keenum was nearly perfect by completing 24-for-28 passes for 376 yards and six touchdowns. One stat that is more amazing than Keenum's line is that Houston only held the ball for 17:42 and managed to put up 63 points.

Houston is now 7-0 and puts their undefeated record on the line against the Rice Owls.

Case Keenum Is New NCAA Career Leader In Total Offense

Case Keenum is in the process of having yet another amazing game, and in today's game against the Marshall Thundering Herd he surpassed former Hawaii Warrior quarterback Timmy Chang to become the all-time total offense leader. Keemum came into Saturday's game with 16,781 yards to Chang's had 16,910 total yards and Keenum surpassed that amount early in the first half of this game.

The game is still in progress, but Keenum has been given the fourth quarter off after throwing 24-for-28, 376 yards and six touchdowns. Once Keenum surpassed the17,000 total career yards amount and he is on pace to have his third 5,000 passing yard season of his career.

As for the actual game, Houston is routing the Marshal Thundering Herd 63-28 late in the fourth quarter. As for Marshall's players who wanted to see the backup at Houston did get their wish and are facing backup Cotton Turner, but it was not due to injury as some Herd players hinted at prior to this game.

Marshall's Goal: Injure Keenum

Marshall Preview: Do Herd Have Enough Offense To Stay Close?

Patrick Edwards and Houston look to avenge not only an upset loss from 2008, but Edwards' nearly career-ending injury suffered in that game.