Houston Football: 2017 Cougars season preview, predictions
By Zach Bigalke
2017 Schedule
| WEEK | DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION |
| 1 | Sep 2, 2017 | Houston @ UTSA | San Antonio, TX |
| 2 | Sep 9, 2017 | Houston @ Arizona | Tucson, AZ |
| 3 | Sep 16, 2017 | Rice @ Houston | Houston, TX |
| 4 | Sep 23, 2017 | Texas Tech @ Houston | Houston, TX |
| 5 | Sep 30, 2017 | Houston @ Temple | Philadelphia, PA |
| 6 | Oct 7, 2017 | SMU @ Houston | Houston, TX |
| 7 | Oct 14, 2017 | Houston @ Tulsa | Tulsa, OK |
| 8 | Oct 19, 2017 [THU] | Memphis @ Houston | Houston, TX |
| 9 | Oct 28, 2017 | East Carolina @ Houston | Houston, TX |
| 10 | Nov 4, 2017 | Houston @ South Florida | Tampa, FL |
| 11 | BYE WEEK | ||
| 12 | Nov 18, 2017 | Houston @ Tulane | New Orleans, LA |
| 13 | Nov 24, 2017 [FRI] | Navy @ Houston | Houston, TX |
What’s in store for Houston in 2017?
The Cougars face two prominent Power Five opponents in 2016. They knocked off both Oklahoma and Louisville, taking down the Big 12 champion and the Heisman winner respectively. But those pair of victories was negated in large part by Houston’s failure to maintain its dominance through its conference schedule.
This year the Cougars have a lower degree of difficulty in their non-conference schedule. The Sooners and Cardinals are replaced by Arizona and Texas Tech. As a result there is far less margin for error built into this campaign. They also play UTSA and Rice out of conference, and so anything less than 4-0 would be a disaster for their New Year’s Six dreams.
In AAC play, the Cougars have tough road tests against Temple, Tulsa, and South Florida. All three of the conference opponents they lost to last year, though, have to come to Houston this season. It is going to be tough to go undefeated in conference play, as the Cougars showed last season, but they will once again challenge to put double digits in the win column.
Next: Houston Cougars - 2-deep roster projections
Prediction: 10-2 (6-2 American)
The Cougars open the year with road trips to San Antonio and Tucson. Both are winnable contests, though Arizona will be playing for Rich Rodriguez’s job this year. Home games against Rice and Texas Tech are also winnable, and the Cougars should be undefeated entering conference play. The AAC remains deceptively deep, and Houston will likely drop a couple of games along the way. Despite losing some key parts from last year’s team, the results are probably going to end up better in 2017.