How’s about a round of applause for the 2025 Houston Cougars? A 10-win season out of literal nowhere, capped off by a bowl win over an SEC team (though those have lost some uniqueness these days). Especially in a less…draining league like the Big 12, a year like that should come with some playoff hype, and it has.
Depending on whom you ask, 2026 Houston is in prime position for a Big 12 title run, paving its way to some 2024 Arizona State comparisons—I, however, remain unconvinced.
This is not because I fear the Cougars lack the means, as “well-coached” is an understatement to describe Willie Fritz’s leadership and, again, the Big 12 is far from the toughest conference to clinch a crown in. Instead, I find myself building doubt from the same source everyone else is building hype: last year.
People throw the word “fraudulent” around in sports all the time, and it’s difficult for it not to cut deep, but I feel the word beautifully describes the ‘25 Cougs, as how they performed often contrasted with what you’d normally expect from a 10-win Power 4 team, and not just in their losses.
On top of the home smearings by Texas Tech and West Virginia, Houston struggled more than they should’ve against the likes of 3-9 Colorado, 2-10 Oregon State and 5-7 UCF (each game won by two scores or less, with the Buffaloes being the road participants while the Beavers and Knights only lost by three).
These danger-zone dubs continued all the way until the end of the season, as even after what should’ve been a sobering 17-14 loss to TCU (also at home and off a second bye, by the way), both a 5-7 Baylor and an offensively disabled LSU kept their falls to the Cougars within a single score, with the latter somehow scoring 35 friggin’ points.
As for what makes the 2026 journey so concerning, six of the eight opponents I’ve addressed by name are set to meet Houston again. And, with some of the “new” faces including an unpredictable Kansas State, an infamously troublemaking Utah and a winning Cincinnati, the blows of those rematches have almost nothing around to soften them.
Houston’s a good team, and its time may come eventually, but I need to see bigger wins over the weaklings, less inconsistency, and more of a homefield advantage before I ask the Cougars to shine at the top of the Big 12, much less ask them to win it and burn the playoff to the ground.
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