3 college football rivalries that will be reignited this season

3. Houston at Baylor (Nov. 4)

My placement of these rivalries has been considered with the goal of listing them in order of appearance (or, as a backup, alphabetically), but coincidentally, doing so appears to have assisted me in saving the best for last. What is it that makes the series between Houston and Baylor pop, though? Simple: Just how long it’s been since their last meeting.

While the previous two matchups have only been played every several years or so, at least they’ve both been seen within the last decade, along with having multiple installments in the 2000s. The same cannot be said for the Cougars and Bears, who haven’t met since 1995—the better part of 30 years ago—shortly before the Southwest Conference disbanded. But wait, it gets even better than that.

Baylor is actually one of a few teams that Houston is reuniting with upon the Cougars joining the Big 12. There are other familiar faces who also have to share the conference with them, such as Texas Tech and TCU, which might leave some wondering what sets their rivalry with the Bears apart from those with the Red Raiders and Horned Frogs. This is a very fair question at face value, as all of them are in-state squads and have competitive histories with the Cougars.

The difference-maker is the combination of Baylor’s closeness (Waco is convincingly closer to Houston than either Lubbock or Fort Worth), their rivalry’s competitiveness (Cougars lead Baylor 14-13-1 while leading Texas Tech 18-15-1), and how many times the rivalry’s been played (28 times to Houston-TCU’s 25).

And while the gap between the Cougars and Bears is almost three decades wide, the gap between them and the Frogs isn’t even two decades wide (last meeting: 2007). As for the one between them and the Raiders, it doesn’t even exist (literally, they’ve played the last two years and four of the last six).

The hiatus, the SWC ties and the intensity all make for a reunion between this pair of Texas powers long overdue—and I, for one, can’t wait to watch it unfold.

We’ve already discussed how many high-profile games this college football season has in store for us, and that alone is great. However, seeing these three fly under the radar at the same time shows just how deep the season’s slate truly is, and that should undoubtedly make 2023 a year to remember.