UH Cougar Football: 2025 attendance and 2026 schedule

The Houston Cougars end the 2025 season with a 10-3 record, a #22 ranking in the final AP poll (they're #19 in the final Coaches poll), and a bowl win over an SEC blue blood. Pretty good for a season for which I struggled to predict six wins last August, and good enough to earn an end-of-season "A" grade from Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Incidentally, this is only the fourth time since 1990 (!) that the Cougars have ended the season with an AP top 25 ranking.

Another positive from last season was attendance: the Cougars averaged 32,215 fans per game over the 2025 season, an increase of 4,793 fans per game from 2024.

That being said, this was still the worst average attendance of the 16 schools in the Big 12. And these numbers got a boost by the large contingent of Texas Tech fans that helped sell out that game. Hopefully this year's on-field success will translate into more ticket sales in 2026. I also hope that the athletics department takes a hard look at the gameday experience at TDECU Stadium, which hasn't been great. Fewer 11 AM kickoffs would help, too, but that's not something UH can control. 

Speaking of 2026, the schedule was released earlier this week:

    Sat Sep 05      Oregon State
    Sat Sep 12      Southern
    Sat Sep 19      at Texas Tech
    Sat Sep 26      at Georgia Southern
    Sat Oct 03      Central Florida
    Sat Oct 10      at Kansas State
    Sat Oct 17      Oklahoma State
    Sat Oct 24      at Utah
    Sat Oct 31      (off)
    Sat Nov 07     Cincinnati
    Sat Nov 14     at Colorado
    Sat Nov 21     at West Virginia
    Sat Nov 28     Baylor

As of right now, these are all Saturday games. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see the networks flex at least a couple of these games to Friday. 

This schedule starts off great, with back-to-back home games against Oregon State and Southern. But it gets rough from there, with two sets of back-to-back road games, lots of long-distance travel (e.g. Salt Lake City, Utah; Morgantown, West Virginia), and only one bye week two-thirds of the way through the season. Those last three road trips may be played in winter conditions, as well. The home slate is manageable (although Oklahoma State will likely be improved), but Ryan calls the road schedule "daunting."

As for the on-field product, it's hard not to be optimistic about 2026; Willie Fritz and his staff clearly have momentum on their side, and have diligently worked the transfer portal to bring fresh talent into the program. How well this team does is likely going to come down to how it performs on the road.

The Cougars appear on "way-too-early" top 25 rankings from USA Today, CBS Sports, Yahoo, Athlon and Sporting News.

2025 Kinder's Texas Bowl: Houston 38, LSU 35

My marriage may be ruined (such is the risk of marrying into an LSU Tiger family), but this was an amazingly fun game. Houston fell behind 0-14 early in the first quarter but rallied, took a ten-point lead, and then withstood a late Bayou Bengal rally of their own to beat the Tigers, 35-38, and win their first bowl game since 2022.

I don't know who made this graphic, but it's very cool

The Good: Houston's offense. All of the people who contributed to the Cougars' resurgent offense over the course of the season played major roles in this win. QB Conner Weigman accumulated 236 yards passing, 56 yards rushing, and threw 4 touchdown passes - a Texas Bowl record - while not being intercepted or sacked once. RB Dean Conners ran for 126 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown scramble. TE Tanner Koziol caught nine passes for 76 yards and a score, while WR Amare Thomas caught seven passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

Once the Houston offense got hot, LSU's defense simply didn't have an answer for them. The Cougars ended the game with 437 total yards of offense.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cougars limited LSU to 77 yards rushing, while notching four sacks and seven tackles for loss. They also forced a key LSU fumble in the second quarter that kept the Tigers from regaining momentum after the Cougars tied things up.

The Tigers threaten to score

The Bad: Houston's pass defense. Playing in place of an injured Garrett Nussmeier, LSU QB Michael Van Buren completed16 of 26 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns. The Cougars had a tough time containing Tiger TE Trey'Dez Green and WR Kyle Parker, who combined for 11 catches, 146 yards and three touchdowns. Watching the Cougars give up a 46-yard pass on LSU's final possession as they attempted a late rally was especially disheartening

The Ugly: Houston special teams. They began the game by giving up a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to LSU returner Barion Brown. Brown almost got away from the Cougars again on a slippery 43-yard return late in the first half. A Houston kickoff in the second half went out of bounds, drawing a penalty. Finally, LSU came terrifyingly close to recovering their own onside kick attempt late in the game; the Cougar "hands team" didn't seem to be positioned well and simply got lucky.

What It Means: Some LSU fans may discount this game because several key Tiger players sat out, including Nussmeier and former UH safety A. J. Haulcy. But SEC fans can't have it both ways; LSU's remaining talent was top notch, they had the Cougars on the ropes early, and came within a nearly-recovered onside kick of winning or going into overtime. This was a hard-fought, legitimate win for Houston.

The Cougar offense at work

The Coogs end the season with a bowl win over an SEC school, finish with double-digit wins for only the tenth time in program history, and (unless the AP sportswriters are completely out of their minds) should end the 2025 season with a top-25 ranking, If you had read the previous sentence to me back in August, I would have laughed in your face. 

The University of Houston Cougars and Louisiana State University Tigers are now 2-2 all-time, with the tiebreaker game to come at the beginning of the 2027 season. The Cougars' next game is at TDECU Stadium on September 5, 2026, when they host the Oregon State Beavers. 

Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews offers five thoughts about the Texas Bowl, while Mario Punete has some excellent pictures of the game action.

Yes, she was still on speaking terms with me after the game. 

Houston 31, Baylor 24

The Cougars end the regular season with a road win against an in-state foe. 

The Good: QB Connor Weigman accounted for 322 of Houston's 417 total yards of offense and 21 of their 31 points, passing for 201 yards and a touchdown (a beautiful 27-yard strike to Amare Thomas on the game's first series) and rushing for another 121 yards and two scores. RB Dean Connors added another 51 yards and a score: a 1-yard run with 1:57 left to put the Coogs up for good. Houston DB Mark Stampley II intercepted a tipped Baylor pass in the endzone, and the Cougar defense forced a Baylor fumble late in the 1st.

The Bad: Houston took a 24-9 lead in the 3rd quarter, but Baylor quickly scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter (including a 31-yard touchdown pass from QB Sawyer Robertson to Josh Cameron on - ugh! - 4th and 9) to tie things up. 

The Scary: Baylor RB Caden Knighten had to be carted off the field after a nasty on-field collision. For what seemed like an eternity he lay on the field, apparently unable to move, but he was later reported to be alert and able to move all his extremities at the hospital.

What It Means: The Cougars end the 2025 regular season with a 9-3 record, including a perfect 6-0 record in road games. One wonders where this team would be now if they hadn't blown winnable home games against West Virginia and TCU. 

The Cougars now wait to find out which bowl they're going to and who they'll be playing.

Brad Towns discusses how the Cougars took a huge step forward in 2025.

#25 Houston 14, TCU 17

For the second time in as many home games, the Cougars play bad, boring football and lose to a team they probably should have beaten.

The Good: The Houston defense forced four TCU turnovers, three of which (two interceptions and a forced fumble) were caused by defensive back Will James. Late in the fourth quarter, the Horned Frogs had an opportunity to put the game away but were stopped cold by UH linebacker Latreveon McCutchin on 4th-and-1. If you had told me before the game that the Cougars would hold TCU to 17 points and end up +3 in turnover margin, I would have expected a win. However...

The Bad: ...the UH offense sputtered the entire game and only managed to put 14 points of their own the board. QB Connor Weigman was a mediocre 15 of 29 for 161 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and the offense only converted four third downs in 17 tries (five UH drives ended in three-and-outs). The playcalling was unimaginative and at times baffling. TE Tanner Koziol, who has been one of Houston's most effective offensive weapons this season, was absent for much of the game.

The Ugly: Kicker Ethan Sanchez has been pretty reliable this season, but he was 0 for 2 on field goal attempts last Saturday, including a 38-yarder late in the fourth quarter that would have likely sent the game into overtime.

What It Means: Any remote hopes the Cougars had of making the Big XII Conference Championship Game ended with this loss. I still have faith in Willie Fritz and I want him to succeed, but I'm beginning to have some questions. Why does his team come out so flat after bye weeks? Why is his offense so conservative? Why has Connor Weigman appeared to have taken a step backwards over the last several weeks?

This game was such a disappointment that afterwards I had to go over to Rice Stadium to watch North Texas beat the Owls just to get the shit taste out of my mouth.

The Cougars end the regular season with a trip to Waco to play Baylor this Saturday. 

The Cougars: two steps forward, one step back

Between a convention in Portland, Oregon, a visit from my brother, the Veteran's Day holiday (I took some time off to make a long weekend out of it) and other obligations, I haven't gotten around to writing about UH football for the last few weeks. Hence, another three-in-one update:

Houston 24, #24 Arizona State 16: A rather delightful upset of a ranked team on the road! UH quarterback Connor Weigman rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns, and passed for 201 yards and another score. The Houston defense, meanwhile, recovered the game's only turnover and kept Arizona State out of the endzone for three quarters. The end of the game got kind of sloppy, as the Sun Devils rallied from a 0-24 deficit to score 16 unanswered points and were threatening to tie the game, but the Houston defense stepped up to stop the late threat.

The Sun Devils didn't look like they were mentally prepared for this game. They were playing without star receiver Jordyn Tyson, but that doesn't excuse them having a player ejected for targeting, missing two field goal attempts, or being flagged for 12 penalties.

Sadly, after the game, it was announced that Houston Strength and Conditioning Coach Kurt Hester had lost his battle with cancer. 

#22 Houston 35, West Virginia 45: Speaking of teams not being mentally prepared for games, Houston came out flat against a 2-6 West Virginia squad and suffered an embarrassing loss. Fortunately, not a lot of people were on hand to see it. (I knew attendance for this game was going to be lousy because it was an 11 am kick - the second one in a row - on the morning after Halloween. There's also the gameday experience at TDECU Stadium, which Ryan (correctly) says is "not good.")

Connor Weigman had his worst game in a UH uniform. He was responsible for four turnovers, including a pick-six everybody in the stadium (except him, apparently) could see coming. Houston's defense, meanwhile, simply could not stop the Mountaineers' ground game, surrendering 15 first downs on rushes and 246 total yards rushing. The most pathetic moment came when WVU QB Scotty Fox, Jr scored on a 34-yard scramble on 4th and 4 because the Houston defense was clearly confused but didn't think to call timeout.

All in all, a game that was supposed to be dedicated to Coach Hester's memory turned out to be a dud that ended Houston's weeklong stint in the top 25. 

Houston 30, Central Florida 27: This was only the Cougars' second win at Central Florida all-time, and they certainly made it more difficult than it needed to be. Weigman's struggles continued, as he threw three interceptions including another pick-six. However, he also threw two touchdowns, including a 64-yard bomb to Amare Thomas. The Cougar rushing attack rolled up 210 yards against UCF's defense, and Ethan Sanchez was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal tries. 

Houston's defense did their part with some interceptions of their own: linebacker Latreveon McCutchin had a pick-six, and the Golden Knights' late attempt to win the game ended when defensive back Kentrell Webb intercepted their desperation pass in the endzone with 11 seconds left to play.

What it Means: The Cougars are now 8-2 and again ranked in the top 25. I'm not sure they're really worthy of a top 25 ranking at this point, but this season has otherwise exceeded all expectations. 

The Coogs were off last week; they host TCU at TDECU Stadium on Saturday for their final home game of the season. Luckily, it will not be another 11 am kickoff.

Houston 31, Arizona 28

Ethan Sanchez kicked a field goal as time expired and the Cougars notched a homecoming win over the Arizona Wildcats to become bowl-eligible.

The Good: Houston's ground game. The Cougars gained 232 rushing yards, 100 of which were courtesy of RB Dean Connors and another 98 of which came from QB Conner Weigman. The UH offensive line's ability to open running lanes against Arizona's defense was good enough for them to be named the Big XII's Offensive Line of the Week. Who had that on their bingo card this season?!

The Better: In addition to his 98 yards rushing, Conner Weigman passed for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns. Amare Thomas, who led the Cougars in receiving yards, caught two of those scoring passes. Weigman also had no interceptions and was not sacked once.

The Best: Houston's game-winning drive. After the Wildcats had scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to tie the game, the Cougars put together a calm and methodical 13-play, 4:48, 52-yard drive to get well into Sanchez's field goal range. A textbook way to win a football game!

The Bad: As good as Houston's defense has been this season, they gave up 381 total yards to the Wildcats, 269 of which came through the air. Arizona QB Noah Fifita was amazingly accurate, completing 24 of 26 passing attempts with no INTs. To the UH defense's credit, he was also sacked four times.

The Ugly: The 11 am kickoff.  The heat and humidity were brutal (Houston hasn't had much in the way of autumn weather so far), and I'm not sure half of the announced attendance of 28,535 ever actually made it into the stadium. Additionally, 11 am kickoffs ruin homecoming festivities.

What It Means: This was a good game between two evenly-matched teams, and the fact that Houston was able to pull ahead at the end means that they will finish the season with no worse than a .500 record and go to a bowl for the first time since the 2022 season. The Coogs need to win just one more game to secure a winning season.

Next up for the Cougars is a trip to Tempe, Arizona to face Arizona State.

The Coogs at midseason 2025

I got kinda busy over the last few weeks and haven't had a chance to write about Cougar football. Here's a quick rundown of their last three games:

Houston 27, Oregon State 24 (OT): It's not how you start, it's how you finish. Houston played unprepared and uninspired football for most of this game, and at one point trailed the winless Beavers by two touchdowns. However, in the final six minutes of regulation the Cougars scored 14 points and blocked what would have been a game-winning field goal attempt by Oregon State for force overtime. Then, in the extra period, UH stuffed the Beavers on fourth down and kicked a field goal of their own to escape Corvallis with a win they really didn't deserve. 

To be fair, this game had "trap" written all over it: that the Coogs were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat reflects well on their character. "I mean, nothing brings a team closer than a game like this,” Tight end Tanner Koziol said after the game. “Now we've looked at each other in the face of a loss, and we brought it out to a win." Of course, the Cougars were also beneficiaries of Oregon State's uncanny ability to find ways to lose; a few weeks after this game, their head coach was fired. 

Houston 11, #11 Texas Tech 35: All good things must come to an end, and such it was for Houston's four-game winning streak to start the season at the hands of a physically superior Texas Tech squad. Houston just couldn't get anything going on offense, as they turned the ball over three times and were held to only 12 first downs the entire game. QB Conner Weigman was replaced by Zeion Chriss late in the first half, after suffering a head injury. It's a credit to the Cougar defense that this score wasn't worse than it was. The Red Raiders were held to field goal attempts on seven of their drives (and two of those FG kicks were missed). 

The announced attendance of 42,806 was the fourth-largest crowd in TDECU Stadium history. Unfortunately, a lot of those attendees were Texas Tech fans.

Houston 39, Oklahoma State 17: The Cowboys are in a bit of a freefall, having fired longtime coach Mike Gundy a few weeks ago. They simply weren't much of a match for the Coogs, who rolled up 487 total yards of offense. Conner Weigman threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Dean Connor's one-handed touchdown catch may end up being Houston's top highlight of 2025. The Houston defense made things difficult for Oklahoma State's converted wide receiver QB, Sam Jackson V, who completed 7 of 16 passes for 84 yards with an interception and was sacked twice.

What It Means: At the halfway point of the season, the Cougars are 5-1, which already exceeds their win total from all of last year, and are just one win away from bowl eligibility. The offense has made definite improvement compared to last year, and the defense has remained solid in spite of fears it would take a step backwards this season. The program is definitely on a positive trajectory, and Ryan credits this improvement to the Coogs' success in the transfer portal.

However, this is not to say the Cougars are a great team by any means. With the exception of FCS Stephen F. Austin, none of the teams the Cougars have beaten currently have a winning record. They were completely outclassed by Texas Tech, and their sluggish starts in games like Rice and Oregon State are cause for concern. That's why, in spite of their record, the Coogs aren't even receiving votes in the AP top 25 poll. The remaining schedule is formidable and ESPN's FPI only clearly favors Houston in one remaining game (West Virginia). A winning season isn't assured.

The Cougars host the Arizona Wildcats at TDECU Stadium this weekend.

Houston 36, Colorado 20

Last Friday evening, the Cougars notched a dominating win over Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes before 37,899 fans at TDECU Stadium. 

The Good: Kicker Ethan Sanchez was the game MVP, accounting for half of the Coogs' 36 points. Sanchez was 5 of 6 on field goal attempts, hitting from 35, 43, 47, 49 and 52 yards and providing the Houston offense with much-needed morale boosts when their drives didn't quite reach the endzone. Sanchez was also 3 for 3 on extra point attempts. 

The Better: The Coogs ran the ball effectively, rolling up 209 yards against the Buffalo defense. QB Conor Weigman picked up 83 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, RB Dean Conners added another 89 yards and a touchdown on 2 carries, and RB Stacy Sneed chipped in for 35 yards of his own. Add the ground yardage to the 222 yards the Cougars accumulated through the air, and the result was the Houston's first game with more than 400 total yards in total offense in over two years. 

The Best: UH's defense continues to be outstanding. It stymied Colorado's offense, forcing five Buffalo 3-and-outs as well as a turnover on downs, intercepting CU QB Ryan Staub twice, sacking him three times, and tallying seven tackles for loss. 

What It Means: Houston sits at a perfect 3-0 though the first quarter of the season, and the UH faithful can't help but feel good about where this team is headed. Meanwhile, CBS Sports's Shehan Jeyarajah wonders if Colorado's "Prime Time" has come to an abrupt end.

The Cougars get a well-timed week off before traveling to Corvallis, Oregon to face the Oregon State Beavers.

Houston 35, Rice 9

After a sluggish start, the Cougars rallied to win the latest (and last, for a while) edition of the Bayou Bucket. 

The Good, Part I: Rice students were upset that RB Dean Connors transferred from their school to Houston over the summer, so they chanted "FUCK DEAN CONNORS" every time he touched the ball. The chant continued until about forty seconds before halftime, when Connors broke through the Rice defense to score on a 54-yard touchdown run. The Rice student section became very quiet from then on. Connors would add another touchdown to his total in the second half and ended the evening with 132 yards on 13 carries.

The Good, Part II: The Houston defense continues to impress, limiting the Owls' re-vamped option offense to 205 yards and a lone touchdown. The defense tallied three sacks and eight tackles for loss, and Will James intercepted a Rice pass and ran it back 37 yards for a pick six. Through two games, the Cougar D has given up a total of nine points - something no UH team has done since the late '80s.

The Bad: The UH offense looked awful in the first half. The Cougars could get nothing going offensively, gaining a meager 64 yards before Connors' touchdown right before halftime gave them the spark they needed. The Cougars looked better in the second half, but Houston's passing game continues to underwhelm. Take way his 74-yard touchdown pass to Boogie Johnson in the fourth quarter, and Weigman was a mediocre 14-of-21 for 114 yards on the night; he was also sacked three times.

What It Means: The Cougars are now 2-0 for the first time since the 2018 season. They also lead the overall series with Rice, 35-12, as it enters a period of hiatus. It's unclear at this time when, or even if, the series will resume. 

Ryan thinks that the Bayou Bucket needs to end because it's not a "real" rivalry; the schools have little in common other than the fact that they are close to each other. I'm not sure I agree, but I do accept his premise that, now that they are in the Big 12, the Cougars need to schedule as many home games as possible, and giving a game away to Rice every other year is not in the financial best interests of the UH program. 

Next up for the Coogs is an interesting Friday night game at TDECU Stadium, as Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes come to town.

Houston 27, Stephen F. Austin 0

The Houston Cougars start the year with a shutout.

The Good: For all the concern that the defense would take a step backwards after losing defensive coordinator Shiel Wood and several key players from last year's team, they were dominant against SFA. They held the Lumberjacks to 144 total yards of offense, intercepted them twice (and dropped at least two additional picks) and, most importantly, kept SFA from putting any points on the board. You can't ask your defense to do more than that, even against an FCS program.

On the offensive side of the ball, transfer TE Tanner Koziol was as good as advertised, leading all receivers with seven catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. QB Conner Weigman performed acceptably in his first start for the Coogs, completing 15 of 24 passes for 159 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Bad: The offensive line. In spite of being completely overhauled during the offseason, the O-line's struggles continued, especially in run blocking situations. They allowed eight tackles for loss, and one Houston possession ended in a turnover on downs because the Cougars couldn't gain one measly yard on either 3rd or 4th down.... against an FCS defense. 

Between poor O-line play and receivers who failed to get open or otherwise weren't on the same page as Weigman, the offense sputtered for much of the night. Seven Cougar drives ended in punts (five of which were 3-and-outs).

The Horrible: Although originally expected to start, RB Re'Shaun Sanford did not take the field last Thursday. After the game it was discovered that he had undergone knee surgery the day before the game, ending his season before it even began. With his loss, the Cougars are without a key piece of their ground attack.

What It Means: Should UH faithful be concerned that the offense only managed to score 27 points against an FCS opponent? Or should they remember that an offense with so many new faces (coordinator included) is going to be a work in progress at the beginning of the season? Both things can be true, and I expect improvement from here.

Next up for the Cougars is a short trip west to play Rice, in what might be the last edition of the Bayou Bucket for a while.

Underdog Dynasty has more on the Coogs' season opener.

Remembering Lee Corso's F-Bomb

This weekend will be legendary college football coach and commentator Lee Corso's last appearance on ESPN College Gameday. To commemorate the end of the unpredictable 90-year-old analyst's career, ESPN put together a documentary that included this tidbit on one of the most unforgettable moments in College Gameday history, which occurred on the University of Houston campus:

Of course, I was present when it happened, although at the time I didn't hear the actual word.

The University of Houston is currently renovating the plaza in front of the E. Cullen building, where the College Gameday stage was set up. I think as part of the remodeling they should install a commemorative plaque:

Here marks the spot where, on November 19, 2011, during a live broadcast of ESPN College Gameday, Lee Corso said "AW, FUCK IT!" 

2025 Houston Cougar Football Preview

Another college football season is upon us, which means that it's time for me to resume blogging.

Looking Back: There were some bright spots to Willie Fritz's first year at the helm of the Cougar program, including victories over TCU on the road and a ranked Kansas State at home, but the overall result was a 4-8 record for the second straight season. The UH football program has traditionally been known for its offense, but last year that was not the case as Houston finished 133 (out of 134 FBS teams) in scoring, and 128th in total offense.

The Big Story for 2025: Fritz is bringing in new coordinators on both sides of the ball. The ineffective Kevin Barbay has been replaced by Slade Nagle, who worked with Fritz at Tulane, as Offensive Coordinator. Defensively, the Cougars were forced to make a change at the coordinator position when Texas Tech hired Shiel Wood away from Cullen Boulevard. Austin Armstrong, previously DC at Florida, takes over.

Reasons for Optimism: Aside from Nagle, the offense itself is seeing an influx of transfer portal talent including highly-ranked QB Conner Weigman (previously at Texas A&M) and TE Tanner Koziol (previously at Ball State), who was the highest-rated tight end in the portal. These and other newcomers join standouts from last season, such as RB Re'Shaun Sanford II and WR Stephon Johnson. Defensive playmakers such as DT Carlos Allen, Jr and LB Brandon Mack return as well.

The schedule also seems a bit more favorable than the one the Cougars faced last season. The Coogs only face two of the five Big 12 teams ranked in either the preseason AP or Coaches poll. UH also gets an opportunity to work out some kinks against an FCS opponent to start the season, a luxury they did not have to start last season.

Reasons for Pessimism: The transfer portal giveth, and the transfer portal taketh away. The defense was Houston's one bright spot in the 2024 season, ending the season 25th in the nation in yards allowed per game, but key defensive players from last year, including safety A.J. Haulcy and cornerback Jeremiah Wilson, transferred out. Their losses will hurt just as much as Wood's departure to Lubbock.

Disastrously poor offensive line play was one of the reasons for the Coogs' struggles on that side of the ball last season. While Fritz and his staff have brought in some transfers to fortify that struggling unit, it remains to be seen if they will be able to effectively protect Weigman or open holes for the ground game.

What the Computers Think: The Cougars are ranked 70th (out of 136 FBS schools*) in ESPN's preseason Football Power Index and their game-by-game matchup predictor gives the Cougars more than a 50% chance of winning only four games (although a fifth game is almost a toss-up). A separate ESPN rating, the SP+, ranks the Cougars #63 and projects 5.8 wins for the Cougars. "After fielding their worst team in 22 years, the Cougs [sic] are natural rebound candidates, especially with top-20 returning production," the article states.

Sagarin's beginning-of-season ratings predict a 6-6 campaign when home field advantage is taken into consideration. Congrove foresees a 6-6 campaign for the Coogs as well. Massey's algorithm is more pessimistic, only giving the Cougars a 50% chance of winning three games this fall. 

What the Humans Think: Chronicle UH beatwriter Joseph Duarte is predicting a 7-5 season for Houston, as are USA Today's Paul Myerberg and Jim Sergent. CollegeFootballNews foresees a 6-6 record for the Cougars (their full preview of the team is here). James Parks of College Football HQ foresees a 6-6 campaign as well. CBSports.com has the Coogs ranked #53 going into the season and thinks they're on track for a Frisco Bowl appearance, which means they foresee at least six victories.

What I think: I think this fall's offense will be better (after all, it can't get much worse than last season), but I think the defense will take a step backward. The schedule is easier than it was a year ago, but is still formidable. There are a lot of new faces on the program - athletes and coordinators alike - so getting everybody to quickly coalesce as a team will be of utmost importance. 

I want to believe that the Cougars can achieve at least six wins and go to a bowl game this fall - that, after all, should be the minimum expectation of Willie Fritz's second season - and will therefore predict a 6-6 regular season for UH. 

But I do so with a bit of trepidation, because the Coogs don't have much margin for error this fall. In order to get to six wins, the Cougars will need to do at least three of the following four things: not suffer any dreaded "Coog It" games at home, overcome a very long road trip to beat Oregon State in Eugene, do what only one other UH team has done in history and beat UCF in Orlando, and/or pull off a significant upset against the likes of Baylor or Texas Tech. None of those things will be easy. Also, of course, the team must stay healthy; Weigman had injury issues at Texas A&M and if he goes down here as well then all bets are off. 

It was obvious that it would take Willie Fritz more than just one season to repair the damage done to the program by Dana Holgorsen. The good news is that Fritz's teams seem to have a history of taking leaps forward during his second season as head coach; hopefully that trend holds up this fall. 

Underdog Dynasty has a thorough preview of the Cougars that is worth a read.

*Missouri State and Delaware are joining the FBS party this fall.

Cougars fall short of national title

I was hoping that, in terms of making it to the national championship game, the third time would be a charm for the Houston Cougars and they would claim their first national title. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.

Nearly an hour after Houston coach Kelvin Sampson walked off the court amid flurries of Florida-colored orange and blue confetti, he stood in front of a black curtain in a hallway at the Alamodome.

Sampson, 69, faced a phalanx of television lights that illuminated him at his most crushing professional low. The lights shined on his close-cropped hair, which is more salt than pepper, as midnight quickly approached.

With his arms folded across his chest and an NCAA National Final pin adjacent to the UH logo on his gray polo, Sampson distilled the disappointment of Houston squandering a 12-point lead in the second half and ending the national title game with four consecutive turnovers in a 65-63 loss to Florida.

"There's a lot of teams that are not built for six straight wins," Sampson said, referring to the number needed to win the NCAA tournament. "This team was, this team was built, this team had the character and the toughness and the leadership. This team was built to win this tournament, and that's why it's so disappointing. We got here and had a chance and just didn't get it done."

The Cougars led for most of the game but faded down the stretch and lost in a manner eerily reminiscent of their stunning upset at the hands of North Carolina State in the 1983 national championship game. Houston's last shot attempt of the game occurred with 1:25 left up 63-62, and they turned it over four times on their last four possessions, including the ill-fated final possession:

After Florida's Denzel Aberdeen made one of two free throws, Houston had the ball down two with 19 seconds left. Florida's defense stymied Houston's early offensive action, then [UH guard Emanuel] Sharp caught the ball nearly 6 feet behind the 3-point line with five seconds remaining.

Sharp went straight up to attempt a long 3-pointer, but what would have been a 28-footer never got off. Walter Clayton Jr. sniffed out his desperation and lunged at him midair with an outstretched left hand, and it put Sharp in the unenviable position of getting his shot blocked or letting the ball drop.

Sharp shielded Clayton as the ball hit the floor, and Florida's Alex Condon made the hustle play to seal the game by snagging his fourth steal of the night. Sharp slumped down a few feet from his final turnover, his elbows perched atop his knees and fists covering his face as he looked toward the floor.

To be fair to Emanuel, the game should not have come down to him. The Cougars missed easy shots all evening, hitting less than 35% of their field goals and going a lousy 6-25 from beyond the three-point line. They also missed 5 out of 14 free throws. The officiating didn't help either, with the referees missing a obvious Florida goaltending late in the first half and piling up ticky-tack fouls on the Coogs in the second half. But that's no excuse. The Cougars were up by 12 at one point in the second half. They should have won. 

They didn't.

I have to keep my perspective. The fact that the Cougars made the championship game at all is amazing, given their miraculous comeback win over Duke in the semifinal. There are hundreds of college basketball programs out there who would love to be able to claim seven final four appearances and three national championship game appearances, like Houston can. I also need to appreciate the fact that the University of Houston basketball program is nationally prominent today, after spending three decades after the Phi Slama Jama era in utter irrelevance. This game was by no means the end of the road for the Cougars under Kelvin Sampson.

But that doesn't make this loss feel any better. "Best men's basketball program to never have won a championship" isn't a particularly comforting title. This is going to sting for awhile. Assistant coach Kellen Sampson said it best:

"It's a brutal, cruel guillotine," he said, "and when you get here, every team is so good and you don't get here without a team that's connected, resilient, tough. The margins are so razor-thin. We certainly did enough tonight to win. Florida did, as well, and they won."

Let's just hope it's not another 42 years before the Houston Cougars get another bite at the national championship apple.

How far we've come

I've known Greg Propes for for at least 25 years, so it's very cool to see him get a few minutes of fame from the Chronicle based on a picture he took back in December 2013:

Greg Propes, via the Houston Chronicle

Greg Propes arrived inside Hofheinz Pavilion just as the starting lineups were being announced for a non-conference game against Alcorn State in 2013.

“My jaw dropped,” Propes said. “Even by the poor standards that had been set at UH, my jaw dropped when I saw literally nobody there. It blew my mind.”

Propes took photos of Hofheinz from different angles, each showing completely empty sections of red seats for an early December game in coach James Dickey’s final season.

Once again, the photos surfaced on social media this week, showing just how far the University of Houston men’s basketball program has come since the arrival of coach Kelvin Sampson a year later.

That night, Propes posted the photos on the fan website CoogFans.com. He counted 43 fans sitting in the section behind the scorer’s table. He counted 15 students. The announced attendance for UH’s 31-point win was 2,833.

“I’m embarrassed to be here. I’m embarrassed for the players. I’m embarrassed,” Propes wrote on the website’s message board.

UH message boards were referring to Hofheinz as "the Tomb" at the time, because people simply weren't going to the games. It didn't matter that the game Greg attended was on a Monday night during finals week against an uninteresting opponent; the Coogs could have been playing North Carolina on Saturday and the crowd probably wouldn't have been much larger. The program was simply not relevant nationally nor of interest to local sports fans, UH alums included. About six weeks after Greg took this picture, I wrote:

I freely admit that I'm part of the problem; I rarely attend UH basketball games these days because, well, the games just aren't much fun for me anymore. Sure, I should be a good alumnus and support my school's hoops program through thick and thin. But when the team plays one of the weakest non-conference schedules in the nation but still only manages an 8-5 record, when the program has made exactly one NCAA Tournament appearance in the last twenty-two years, when the head coach is an aging retread who was coaching middle school girl's basketball when he was hired, when attending Cougar basketball games feels less like entertainment and more like a chore... Well, I guess I've just reached "that point of apathy" that [former Houston Press writer John] Royal writes about. There was a time when I really cared about UH basketball. Now I couldn't even tell you when the next home game is.

After the 2013-14 season was over, the University of Houston fired James Dickey (who never should have been hired to begin with), and tapped Kelvin Sampson to lead the program out of the abyss.  

Today, things are completely different. The Coogs play in front of packed crowds at the renovated Fertitta Center. The program won the Big XII conference for the second year in a row. The team is heading to their seventh Final Four in program history this weekend. UH basketball is no longer merely relevant; it is one of the nation's best. 

It's amazing to see just how much things have changed in a dozen years.

“Kelvin Sampson is a miracle worker,” Propes said. “What has happened to UH — and I don’t use the word lightly — is a miracle what happened here.”

2025 Houston Cougar football schedule released

Last week, the University of Houston's 2025 football campaign was officially released. Here's what it looks like:*

    Thu Aug 28    Stephen F. Austin
    Sat Sep 06      at Rice
    Fri Sep 12      Colorado
    Sat Sep 20      (off)
    Sat Sep 27      at Oregon State
    Sat Oct 04      Texas Tech
    Sat Oct 11      at Oklahoma State
    Sat Oct 18      Arizona
    Sat Oct 25      at Arizona State
    Sat Nov 01     West Virginia
    Fri Nov 07     at Central Florida
    Sat Nov 15     (off)
    Sat Nov 22     TCU
    Sat Nov 29     at Baylor

At first glance, this looks somewhat easier than last season's schedule. It features seven games in the City of Houston (as opposed to six in 2024), an FCS opponent to start the season (as opposed to a good UNLV team to begin 2024), six opponents who played in bowl games last season (as opposed to eight) and two opponents who ended the season ranked (as opposed to four). 

That being said, this is still a difficult schedule, with seven opponents coming off winning seasons in 2024 and games in all four time zones (including lengthy trips to Corvallis, Oregon; Tempe, Arizona [where they face last year's Big 12 champion, Arizona State]; and Orlando, Florida). Needless to say, if the Cougars do not make tremendous improvement from 2024, especially on offense, they will be looking at a third consecutive losing year. 

Of interest is that there are no back-to-back home or road games on this schedule; every home game is followed by a road game and vice versa. Apparently this is the first time in the 80-year history of the UH football program that this has happened. The Thursday, August 28 opener against Stephen F. Austin is also the earliest season opener in program history. 

Every team on this schedule is a school the Cougars have played previously, although in some cases it's been awhile: Houston last played Stephen F. Austin in 1948, Oregon State in 1970, Colorado in 1971, and Arizona State in 1990 (in Tokyo!).

I wasn't able to make any road trips last season, but I'm thinking that late September Oregon State game might be a good travel opportunity. I've never been to the Pacific Northwest.

* Updated (4/3/2025) to indicate Colorado and Central Florida games being moved to Friday.

UH Cougar football: 2024 attendance and season recap

The University of Houston's football program averaged 27,423 fans per game this season, which represents a drop of almost 8,600 fans/game from last season. However last season's attendance was heavily influenced by the Texas game (and ticket brokers and Longhorn fans who may have bought season tickets just to secure a seat at said game), so the 2022 season may be a fairer comparison. In that case, the Cougars averaged 2,630 more fans/game than two years ago. Here's the graph:

The bad news is that this puts Houston dead last in the Big XII. The better news is that attendance has the potential to be better next year, with in-state rivals such as TCU and Texas Tech coming to town, along with the hype machine that is Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes. But, as the above graph has always shown, the one thing that really helps attendance is winning. 

The Cougars, of course, did not win in 2024; they ended the season with a 4-8 record, identical to last year's campaign and one win better than my preseason prediction. It was understood that 2024 would likely be a rough year, as the program was in transition under a new coaching regime, and the previous coaching staff's indifference to recruiting had left some big holes in terms of talent. 

While there were some encouraging moments to the season (avenging last year's loss to Rice, beating preseason conference favorite Utah and a ranked Kansas State team at home, upsetting TCU on the road), the program was overall very inconsistent. 

The offense sputtered all season long, failed to score a touchdown in four games, and put up some of the worst stats in program history. Head coach Willie Fritz was forced to dismiss his offensive coordinator, Kevin Barbay, before the season even ended. Slade Nagle, who was previously Fritz's OC at Tulane and was an assistant at LSU this past season, now takes over on the offensive side of the ball.

The defense, on the other hand, excelled. Unfortunately for the Cougars, that meant that defensive coordinator Shiel Wood was poached by a program with deeper pockets at season's end. Fritz has since hired Austin Armstrong, who spent this past season as Florida, as Houston's new DC.

Fritz is already busily working on upgrading the program's talent for the 2025 season, bringing in a decent recruiting class during the early signing period and using the transfer portal to address some critical needs for next year, including a quarterback:

Former Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman is set to transfer to Houston for the 2025 season, he announced Wednesday night on social media.

Weigman, who began each of the past two seasons as Texas A&M's starter, entered the transfer portal Monday. Houston was the clear favorite to land the Cypress, Texas, native, who was ESPN's top pocket passer and No. 27 overall recruit in the 2022 class.

"I'm coming home. Time to go to Work H-Town," Weigman wrote on X.

The Cougars are also bringing in fresh talent for the offensive line. Unfortunately, the portal giveth and the portal taketh away.

Needless to say, the program has a busy offseason ahead of it. And while it's way too early to make predictions about the 2025 season, the rebuilding process under Willie Fritz is well underway and I'm cautiously hopeful that we'll see improvement on the field in 2025.

Houston 18, BYU 30

A rough end to a rough season. 

The Good: The offense scored more touchdowns than they did the two previous games combined, and defense and special teams combined to force three BYU turnovers. 

The Bad: Zeon Chriss, in what will probably be his last game as a (Red) Cougar, turned the ball over three times over the course of the game, including a sack-and-fumble late in the game that led to BYU's game-sealing touchdown. The Houston defense struggled to contain (Blue) Cougar QB Jake Retzlaff, who passed for 167 yards and ran for two touchdowns.

The Ugly: This was the last game of the season and the coaching staff wanted to "pull out all the stops," so to speak, but two examples of unnecessarily cutesy or aggressive playcalling early in the game may have doomed Houston's chances to win:

• After recovering a fumble on BYU's first drive and returning the ball to BYU's red zone, Houston's offense attempted to score on a gimmicky reverse pass thrown by WR Joseph Manjack. It was intercepted. 
• After scoring first and leading 7-0, the (Red) Cougars elected to attempt an onside kick. This unnecessarily aggressive decision backfired in spectacular fashion when BYU's Talan Alfrey scooped up the ball and ran it back 58 yards for an easy (Blue) Cougar touchdown.

What It Means: For the second year in a row, the Coogs end the season with a 4-8 record. Houston is now 0-4 all-time against BYU. 

I'll provide a fuller wrap-up of the 2024 season (as well as an updated attendance graph) in a coming post.

Houston 10, Baylor 20

The Baylor Bears came to town to play the Cougars for the first time since 1995, when both schools were still members of the Southwest Conference. They went back to Waco with a win.

The Good: Late in the first quarter, Jeremiah Wilson intercepted a pass from Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown. It was one of three interceptions forced by the Houston defense.

The Bad: Wilson's pick-six was the Cougars' only touchdown of the game; for the fourth time this season, the Cougar offense was unable to find the endzone. Cougar QB Zeon Chriss would throw three interceptions of his own, one of which was picked off in the endzone on first and goal.

The Ugly: The 2024 Houston Cougar offense will go down as one of the worst in program history. Ryan runs the numbers, and they're not good:

UH is last in the country (#133) in scoring offense at 13.6 ppg. Houston’s 18 total touchdowns are tied for last nationally. The Coogs are tied with five other schools at T-127 in rushing touchdowns (7). UH is tied with three teams at T-123 in passing touchdowns (9).

The Cougars are also 133rd (again, last in FBS) in red zone offense, 131st in third down conversion percentage, 129th in total offense, and 126th in passing offense. This season will be the first since 2001's 0-11 season where the Cougars will have scored less than 200 points.

These statistics are simply not acceptable. To that end, yesterday morning head coach Willie Fritz relieved Kevin Barbay of his duties as Offensive Coordinator. Ryan explains that Barbay was a nice guy who just didn't get the job done:

Barbay was affable, friendly, and well-liked personally by his players, but he failed to run a sustainable offense. UH’s offense scored two or fewer touchdowns in 9 of 11 games.

Barbay called plays from the coaches’ box and was seemingly detached from his players and the vibe on the field. An OC in the press box is unable to use the new tablet technology to show players defensive tendencies or areas to attack.

Barbay attempted to throw the ball more in the last few weeks, failing to feature his best offensive weapons. Re’Shaun Sanford averages over 5 ypc but had just 11 and 8 carries in the last two games, respectively.

Zeon Chriss continually struggled throwing, with too many play calls and routes putting him in impossible situations. Barbay’s offense did not get into third-and-manageable situations enough.

Fritz realized his offense needed a spark after going two games without an offensive TD. UH scored one or fewer touchdowns five times this season.

What It Means: The loss to Baylor guarantees a losing season for the Cougars. Fritz has a lot of work to do this offseason shoring up the offensive side of the ball. A better OC will help, but a more-talented quarterback is a must as well.

The Cougars end the season with a trip to Provo to play BYU.

Houston 3, Arizona 27

For the second time this season, the Cougars followed an off week with a road game and fell flat on their faces.

The Good: Jack Martin kicked a 49-yard field goal to keep the Cougars from being shut out for the third time this season. And the Cougar defense did what they could do to keep the game competitive, sacking Wildcat quarterback Noah Fifita five times and intercepting him once. They also forced four Arizona three-and-outs and racked up seven tackles for loss.  

The Bad: The defense got absolutely no help from the offense, which threw one interception, fumbled twice, turned the ball over on downs four times (including one failed fourth-down conversion at the Arizona goal line) and was a miserable 2 of 13 on third down attempts. The Cougars moved the ball well in the middle of the field, amassing 326 total yards of total offense, but simply could not score points.

The Ugly: The offensive playcalling and decisionmaking was dreadful, i.e. repeatedly running up the middle for no gain, or going for it on fourth down when the Cougars were well within field goal range. I don't understand offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay's philosophy. I'm not sure he understands it himself. While I realize that there is a lack of talent on the offensive side of the ball, head coach Willie Fritz may do well to look for a new OC this offseason.

What It Means: If the Coogs wanted a shot at bowl eligibility this season, they needed to win against a 3-6 Arizona squad. That they did not essentially ensures that they will be staying home for the second straight year.

The Cougars will play their last home game of the year against Baylor this Saturday.

UH football: turning the corner

I haven't been able to write over the past few weeks, so here's a quick recap of the Cougars' last three games. This program is definitely showing improvement.

Houston 14, Kansas 42: Coming off the upset victory over TCU and a week off to rest, I thought the Cougars would be prepared to face the Jayhawks at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. They were not. Houston fell into a 0-21 hole early on and, after a flash of competitiveness - they scored on a pair of Donovan Smith touchdown passes to trail 14-28 at the break - were unable to put any additional points on the board in the second half. Smith and Zeon Chriss combined to throw four interceptions and suffer seven sacks, while the Cougar defense surrendered 467 yards to the Jayhawks. All in all a disappointing outing.

To add insult to injury, Kansas's win over Houston ended their five-game losing streak.

Houston 17, Utah 14: A.J. Haulcy intercepted a Utah pass late in the fourth quarter and Jack Martin kicked a 43-yard walk-off field goal to secure a homecoming victory over the Utes. The Cougars managed to win in spite of completing only 6 passes for 61 yards (it's been awhile since Houston was able to do that) and squandering a pair of fourth-and-goal attempts at the Utah goal line.

Fortunately for the Coogs, Utah made plenty of mistakes of their own. They missed two field goals, turned the ball over twice (including the aforementioned interception) and were flagged seven times. The Utes switched quarterbacks late in the game in an attempt to provide a spark to their anemic offense, but to no avail; after being picked first in the Big 12 preseason media poll and beginning the season ranked, Utah is now on a four-game losing skid.

Houston 24, #17 Kansas State 19: The game was played in an intermittent rain (kickoff was delayed for an hour due to lightning), and there were as many KSU fans in the TDECU Stadium stands as Houston fans. In spite of that, the Cougars kept pace with the heavily-favored Wildcats. Zeon Chriss was 11 of 11 for 103 yards and a touchdown (he rushed for a score as well) while the UH defense kept KSU's vaunted rushing attack under 100 yards and forced two turnovers.

Trailing 10-19 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Cougars scored twice to take the lead. They were then able to deflect KSU's hail-mary pass into the endzone as time expired to secure the most unanticipated and enjoyable win of the season. 

What It Means: After beginning the season with a 1-4 record, the Cougars have won three of their last four, including an upset of the #17-ranked team in the nation. This team is clearly making progress, albeit in fits and starts. They still need two wins to become bowl eligible, which is still a tall order at this point. But the fact that a bowl is even a possibility speaks to the team's progress under new head coach Willie Fritz.

The Cougars have another week off before traveling to Tucson to face the Arizona Wildcats.