The Texas 20, No. 18: The UIL state football championships move to Houston

[caption id="attachment_17756" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo by Diana Porter Photo by Diana Porter[/caption] This is the Texas 20, DCTF's countdown of the 20 biggest storylines heading into the 2015 football season.No. 20: Is there a college sleeper in Texas?No. 19: Which Texas high school football records will be broken?Today, we've reached No. 18: The state championships are coming to Houston. Since 2011, the UIL has worked to have every 11-man, and now every 6-man, state championship game under one roof, over two weekends in December. Even if you’re among those partial to the old format where the opposing teams in each game chose a neutral site (often resulting in far less travel for one or both teams), it’s hard to deny the magnetic power of a central site and the massive crowds it draws. These games have always been held at AT&T Stadium during this brief tradition, but that’s changing this year thanks to the NFL scheduling a Cowboys game during the UIL’s 11-man championship weekend on Dec. 17-19. Instead, the state’s football fans will convene on NRG Stadium in Houston. So the questions become what will change, and what will stay the same in this new setup? First, it’s great to see more locations get involved. Football belongs to everyone in Texas, and there’s always an argument that a rotating central venue model has its merits. It’s exciting to speculate about how Houston crowds may differ from the DFW crowds of the past few years, but it’s also fair to wonder if as many casual fans will show up without the lure of all the shiny features of that space station in Arlington. Second, the success of the venue may also be left up to chance. It speaks to reason that if more Houston area teams make it to NRG, the greater the atmosphere will be. How likely are those odds? We’ll address that later in our countdown to the season, but it goes without saying that Houston’s teams could use the home field advantage after getting swept in the 5A and 6A title games over the past two years. Finally, if nothing else, this is a way to spread the wealth of the best state high school showcase weekend in the country, and Texas high school football fans are the best high school football fans and they deserve to have this weekend in their backyard more often. In any case, we’ve been thrilled with DFW has a host city, and we’re amped up to see how Houston hosts the biggest high school championship weekend in the country.