Houston Cougars' Spot in Big 12 Standings Unchanged After Brutal Loss
In this story:
Earning a ticket to the Big 12 Championship Game just got a lot harder after the Houston Cougars dropped a tough loss to West Virginia after being announced as the No. 22 team in the AP Poll.
Not only did it sting for the Cougars to have an embarrassing showing, but it also proved that there is still a bunch to clean up the season to be genuine contenders.
There were tackling issues. There was miscommunication. There were also not enough fans. All the fingers point to specific areas that need addressing, but even though there isn't one singular issue to focus on, there is still a glimmer of hope for coach Willie Fritz to turn the season around by winning out.
Big 12 Shuffle
After the weekend slate of games was complete, the Big 12 conference looked different from the week prior. First-place Cincinnati traveled to Utah, Texas Tech took on Kansas State, and Arizona State battled Iowa State, with other conference games not having as much relevance.
Cincinnati suffered its first conference loss of the season, which dropped them two spots, while Texas Tech continued its winning ways with its starting quarterback back on the field. With BYU on a bye week, the matchup next weekend between Texas Tech and BYU will determine the top dog in the conference and will likely be one of the teams that punches their ticket to Arlington, Texas.
BYU is 5-0 in the Big 12 while Texas Tech and Cincinnati are chasing the first-place position at 5-1. Behind those three programs, Houston is surprisingly still tied for fourth place at 4-2 with Utah and Arizona State.
A group of four schools then sits tied for fifth place with three wins apiece. Those teams are TCU, Baylor, Kansas State and Kansas. At 2-3, Arizona leads the way, while Iowa State is at 2-4.
One-win programs in the Big 12 Conference are UCF, Colorado, and West Virginia. UCF currently sits at 1-4 while Colorado and West Virginia are at 1-5 overall. At the bottom of the group is Oklahoma State, which doesn’t carry a conference win all season with an 0-6 record in Big 12 play.
Houston Schedule
Three games remain for Houston. Out of those three matchups, every game should be a win. Now, whether that happens will be determined by several factors, but one thing is sure: every win matters because there are still championship aspirations and a bowl game to look forward to.
One last home game to cap off the 2025 campaign at TDECU Stadium will be against TCU. The other two road games will be at UCF and at Baylor. The next game is played at UCF before TCU comes to town, with the season finishing in Waco, Texas.
It’s a more challenging path to the Big 12 Championship Game after dropping a loss on Saturday to the Mountaineers.
Kolton Becker is a journalist for Texas A&M Aggies and Houston Cougars On SI from Port Lavaca, Texas. He is a graduate from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural communications and journalism and a minor in sport management. As a former sports reporter with TexAgs and The Battalion, he has covered Texas A&M football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, track & field, cross country, swim & dive and equestrian. In his spare time, he loves to hunt, fish, cook, do play-by-play announcing at high school sporting events, spend time with family/friends as well as be involved with his local church.
Follow kolton_becker