Houston Cougars Projected Bowl Game Matchup With SEC Force
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Bowl game season is still many months away, with teams looking to harness any momentum from their first two weeks of the season to take into the long season ahead of them, while others are still figuring out their identities as a football team.
For the Houston Cougars, the 2025 season has been as perfect a start as head coach Willie Fritz could have asked for to start his second year as the Cougars' head coach. Now one outlet has the Cougars making a bowl game against a program in arguably the best conference in college football.
As CBS Sports recently updated its bowl game predictions, which has Houston making a bowl game a mark they didn’t reach a year ago. The Cougars are predicted to have a spot in the Liberty Bowl, taking on the Ole Miss Rebels.
How have Houston and Ole Miss started the season?
Ole Miss headed into the 2025 season needing to replace a multitude of talented players, highlighted by a pair of first-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft in quarterback Jaxson Dart and defensive tackle Walter Nolan.
With the losses, the Rebels have hit the ground running with a 2-0 start with a blowout victory over Georgia State and a victory over a conference foe in Kentucky, 30-23, avenging their loss to the Wildcats from a season ago.
With the loss of Dart, many questions lingered about who would be under center for head coach Lane Kiffin. Sophomore Austin Simmons has stepped up to lead the offense, passing for 576 yards and three touchdowns, but has struggled to protect the football at times, throwing three interceptions in the young season.
For the Cougars, it’s been smooth sailing so far in 2025. They opened the season with a shutout victory over the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, and in week 2, Houston cruised through another comfortable matchup with a blowout victory against the Rice Owls in the Bayou Bucket Classic.
New starting quarterback for the Cougars, Conner Weigman, has started the season out strong with 347 passing yards and four touchdowns while throwing zero interceptions, leading Houston to a 2-0 start on the season.
It’s still early to predict the future of both teams throughout the 2025 season; however, both will look to stay the course of their winning ways. The Rebels will face another conference opponent in the Arkansas Razorbacks on Sep. 13.
As for the Cougars, they’ll also look to continue their momentum as they open up Big 12 play, hosting head coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes on Sep. 13.
