not really....yes they had that stretch in the early 80s but after they were not invited to go to the Big 12...they absolutely crateredHouston is not a great comparison imo. Houston has a rich history in basketball in particular. Yes they had a stretch in cusa but this is a school that’s proud of their athletics and has very rich alumni that are willing to spend and the school is not shackled by an interminable New Jersey bureaucracy as opposed to a Texas school. Nothing like rutgers whatsoever.
from 1992 to 2017, they only had one lone ncaa bid in 2010...thats about as bad as Rutgers and they were in a rinky dink conference with a poor tv contract while Rutgers was in the Big East. Their problem was bottom level when Sampson took over, its like saying RU had a history too in 76.. 1983-4 was a long time ago. They went 34 years between their ncaa championship appearance and actually winning a ncaa game.
but yeah they got a $20 million gift to help rennovate their run down arena and it coincided at a time they hired Sampson something RU would never consider