Kickoff Time Announced for Houston vs. Baylor in Regular Season Finale
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Hours after the conclusion of the Houston Cougars' 17-14 loss to TCU in their Week 13 home finale, the kickoff time has been announced for their regular season finale on the road in Waco, Texas at McLane Stadium against Baylor on Nov. 29.
The Cougars and Bears will kick off at McLane Stadium at 11 a.m. after a six-day window was exercised based on results in the Big 12 standings from Week 13.
What's in it for both teams?
Houston will look to finish its 2025 regular season campaign at 9-3 in an effort to reach a high-caliber bowl game featuring the top portion of the Big 12, as multiple predictors have listed the Alamo Bowl (Big 12 vs. former Pac-12 now in the Big 12) or the hometown Texas Bowl (Big 12 vs. SEC) as potential suitors for the Cougars.
This also means that the Cougars will look to eliminate Baylor from bowl eligibility in Week 14, as the Bears are coming off a 41-17 loss to Arizona at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Tucson on Saturday, which dropped them to 5-6 (3-5 Big 12) after losing four of their last five games.
Baylor's woes over the past five games have put into question the future of coach Dave Aranda's status at the helm for the Bears, especially as the departure of athletic director Mack Rhoades (at Houston from 2009 to 2015) appeared to be a threatening factor.
However, the Bears announced on Nov. 21 that Aranda would be retained for the 2026 season, which would leave for more sour note if Houston were to end any postseason hopes for them with a win on the road.
Although the 8-3 Cougars are listed as a 2.5-point underdog according to FanDuel and given only a 41.9 percent chance to win the regular season finale according to ESPN's matchup predictor, they will look to take advantage of the holes in the Bears' defense, as Baylor has allowed 35.3 opponent points per game through 13 weeks.
However, it will be a near-balanced offensive matchup as the Bears have averaged 30.7 points per game compared to Houston's 28.2.
For signal callers, redshirt senior quarterback Sawyer Robertson has thrown for a mounting 3,327 yards with 30 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions for Baylor, leaving him with a 72.8 percent passer rating (good for 27th in FBS).
On the other hand, junior quarterback Conner Weigman, who has somewhat revived the position for Houston in 2025, has thrown for 2,274 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions, playing slightly cleaner than Robertson. He has also shown greater mobility as he has run for 523 yards, averaging nearly four yards a carry.
Houston will look to avenge its 20-10 senior night loss to Baylor from Nov. 23, 2024, which happened to eliminate the Cougars from bowl contention in Year 1 of the coach Willie Fritz era, as the Bears took a 15-14-1 all-time series lead from the meeting in this Southwest Conference rivalry.
Michael Carrara is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He attends the University of Houston, where he is a journalism major and a marketing minor. He is also a sports writer and reporter for the Daily Cougar, having covered baseball as an NCBWA member. You can find Michael on all major social media channels, including X on @michaelcoalec.