2020 Houston Cougar football schedule released

The 2020 campaign will look like this:

     Thu Sep 03     Rice
     Sat Sep 12      at Washington State
     Sat Sep 19      at Memphis
     Sat Sep 26      North Texas
     Sat Oct 3        (off)
     Thu Oct 8       Tulane
     Fri Oct 16       at BYU
     Sat Oct 24      at Navy
     Sat Oct 31      Central Florida
     Sat Nov 7       at Cincinnati
     Sat Nov 14     South Florida
     Sat Nov 21     at SMU
     Sat Nov 28     Tulsa

I have five thoughts about this schedule:

1. It's easier than last year, but still pretty tough. Last season's schedule began with a ridiculous run of four games in 19 days, including an opener on the road against eventual CFP participant Oklahoma. This year's schedule isn't nearly as adverse; in fact, in many ways it sets up pretty well for the Coogs. They have two home Thursday night games that give them an extra couple of days to prepare before going on tough road trips, and the off week in early October gives them a breather after the first third of the season. That being said, the road schedule is still pretty tough (more on this in a moment), and the four-game stretch in the middle of the season - at BYU, at Navy, Central Florida and at Cincinnati - is especially nasty.

2. This schedule probably isn't going to sell a lot of tickets. The home slate features no "Power 5" opponents that will attract casual fans. The closest thing the Cougars have to a "marquee" opponent at home is Central Florida, and the fact that it's on Halloween is a probably attendance killer. The two Thursday night games are also attendance killers, as is the Saturday-after-Thanksgiving game against Tulsa. UH football needs to break its three-year attendance slide, but this is probably not the schedule to do it with.

3. At least all the early home games will be at night. The Thursday games against Rice and Tulane are by definition night games. North Texas is unlikely to be televised and therefore will probably be a night game streamed on ESPN+. This means that all of Houston's home games in September and October will be night games, and that will come as good news to anybody who suffered through the "stupid" heat of the Rice and Arizona games a couple of years ago. I maintain that forcing players to play in, and fans to sit in, Houston's September heat and sun is cruel and unsafe; fortunately that won't be an issue this fall.

4. The road schedule is brutal. It features two sets of back-to-back road games, and requires the Coogs to travel to all four time zones. With one exception, every team the Cougars play on the road this year is a team they lost to at home last year. The exception: a physically tough BYU team in Provo. Ouch. (That would actually be an awesome roadie, though...)

5. I'm having trouble finding six wins on this schedule. In order to show progress, sell tickets, and validate the decision to hire Dana Holgorsen away from West Virginia (as well as his own decision to redshirt much of last year's team), the Cougars must make significant improvement over last season's 4-8 disappointment. Right now, I'm not optimistic. The home games against Rice, UNT, Tulane, USF and Tulsa are must-wins, because the roadies against Washington State, Memphis, BYU and Cincinnati are probable losses. If the Coogs can knock off back-to-earth Navy and SMU programs on the road, and maybe even upset Central Florida at home, they could achieve an eight-win season. If not, they're looking at 5-7 season, an empty stadium in 2021, and a program that has fallen back into oblivion.

Ryan Monceaux, who describes the schedule as "much more friendly" than last year's, shares his thoughts in his podcast.