2015 UH Football schedule released

Last week, the 2015 University of Houston Cougar football schedule was released:

     Sat Sep 05     Tennessee Tech
     Sat Sep 12     at Louisville
     Sat Sep 19     off
     Sat Sep 26     Texas State
     Sat Oct 03     at Tulsa
     Thu Oct 08   SMU
     Fri Oct 16     at Tulane
     Sat Oct 24     at UCF
     Sat Oct 31     Vanderbilt
     Sat Nov 07    Cincinnati
     Sat Nov 14    Memphis
     Sat Nov 21    at UConn
     Fri Nov 27    Navy

Kickoff times have yet to be announced, but the Thursday home game against SMU and the Friday game at Tulane's new stadium will obviously be evening kickoffs for ESPN or ESPN2.

There's a lot to like here, especially when compared to the previous season's schedule. There are two schools from "Power Five" conferences on the slate, including a Halloween matchup against Vanderbilt. There's the revenge game against Texas State in late September, and a Black Friday matchup against Navy which ought to be interesting. There's only one set of back-to-back road games and a three-game homestand towards the end of the season. The only thing I don't like is the bye week, as it comes so early in the season. But all in all, this is a decent schedule.

How will the Coogs do against this slate? I honestly have no idea; I have high hopes for new head coach Tom Herman and his staff, but Houston lost a lot of talent off of last year's team, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Some of these games: Louisville and Central Florida on the road; Vandy, Cincinnati and Memphis at home - are going to be very physical and tough. And let us not forget that Texas State and Tulane beat the Coogs last time they played.

This isn't to say that the Coogs won't have a winning season this fall, but Herman and his staff definitely have their work cut out for them between now and September.