After a long decade in the wilderness after the SWC was disbanded, the University of Houston seems to be building a legitimate program.
Despite losing Art Briles to Baylor, they were able to plug in Kevin Sumlin and continue their ascent all the way to a 13-1 finish and a shot at an undefeated season and a BCS bowl last year. So far, they seem to have recovered from Sumlin's departure to Texas A&M, as the new coaching staff under Tony Levine reeled in an impressive recruiting class.
Houston was the clear-cut winner of the 2012 recruiting cycle in Conference USA, with Scout placing them at No. 55 while 24/7 Sports had them sneaking into the top 50 at No. 48.
More importantly, they raced past the rest of their conference rivals, none of whom were anywhere near the top 50. Rivals had the average star ranking for the Cougars 24 commitments at 2.75, a clear cut above Marshall, Southern Miss and Tulsa.
Their biggest recruit was 4-star WR Deonte Greenberry from California, the No. 7 rated WR in the country, who they flipped from Notre Dame on National Signing Day. At 6'3 187 with a 4.4 40, he already has NFL measurables and he could be a force instantly in Houston's spread offense.