Houston Cougars Make On3’s Way-Too-Early 2026 Top 25
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Even before college football officially crowns a national champion, parts of the sport are already looking ahead to what next season brings. As the season reaches its final chapter, media publications everywhere are quick to turn the page by releasing way-too-early top-25 rankings for the 2026 season.
For the first time in four years, it's expected that the Houston Cougars will be included in the preseason top-25. Early on January morning, On3 officially released their way-too-early top-25 for the 2026 season. Houston, after reaching 10 wins for the first time since the 2021 season, slots in at No. 22 in On3's way-too-early rankings.
NEW: On3 2026 Way-Too-Early College Football Top 25👀
— On3 (@On3) January 19, 2026
Do you agree? 🤔https://t.co/Eel5VBAUlk pic.twitter.com/U2YlWB1Lfg
The Cougars are accompanied by four other teams in the Big 12. Texas Tech, BYU, Utah, and Arizona are also expected to be ranked by the start of the 2026 season. Houston's inclusion, however, speaks volumes about the rapid impact that head coach Willie Fritz has made in such a short amount of time.
Dominating in the Transfer Portal...Again
After the conclusion of the 2024 season, which saw the Cougars finish with a 4-8 record, many wondered what the Houston football program would look like going forward. While Fritz has had a knack for finding success in his second year with a program, it was clear that there was significant work to be done before the Cougars were competitive against Big 12 competition.
Similar to a head coach in the Big Ten, who may or may not be coaching for a national championship on Monday night, Fritz used the transfer portal to the fullest after his first season at Houston. By targeting players that had been overlooked at their respective programs, the Cougars built a transfer portal class that ranked inside the top-45.
While it didn't seem like a program-changing transfer portal class, Fritz still made some noise by securing commitments from former Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman, former Ball State tight end Tanner Koziol, and former UAB wide receiver Amare Thomas. All three athletes had shown flashes of being great, but Koziol was the only sure-fire transfer with over 150 receptions with the Cardinals.
With the Cougars ending the 2025 season with a 10-3 record and a Texas bowl victory over the LSU Tigers, it's safe to say that Fritz's injection of offensive talent worked out. Houston returning Weigman and Thomas likely contributes to the program being ranked in On3's way-too-early top-25.
But Fritz has shown that he's not done after just one relatively successful season. Not only did the head coach help build one of Houston's best recruiting classes in recent memory, but the Cougars currently hold a top-10 transfer portal class ahead of the 2026 season. Of Houston's 17 incoming transfers, three of them are rated four-stars by On3.
While seeing Houston listed alongside national brands such as Texas and Notre Dame in the transfer portal rankings may be jarring to some, those within Coog Nation understood that the program just needed the right leader to turn the Cougars into contenders.
