Ranking Houston's 2026 Opponents From Easiest to Hardest
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The Houston Cougars had a tremendous year this past season, as they went 10-3 after posting back-to-back 4-8 seasons in the two years prior.
As they look to build off the strong year, one of the bigger factors in their success, aside from players and coaches, is scheduling. Oftentimes in college football, scheduling plays a huge factor in whether or not a team has success.
For instance, catching a team like Texas Tech at the beginning of the season could work in Houston's favor as opposed to playing them later in the season when they theoretically worked out all of the kinks.
With the college football season feeling like it's years away, I decided to rank Houston's opponents based on how difficult a matchup it seems to be, going from easiest to most difficult.
12. Southern Jaguars
The Jaguars had just two wins this season, and lost by 49 points to the lone FBS team they played in Fresno State. They will also have a first-time head coach in Marshall Faulk, who went from being out of football prior to this past season to running backs coach for Deion Sanders at Colorado, before earning the head coaching role.
11. Georgia Southern Eagles
Clay Helton consistently has this program hovering around seven or eight wins, but they shouldn't really challenge the Cougars. They also lost to Fresno State this past season, as the Bulldogs beat them by 28. In addition to that, they lost their lone Power 4 matchup to USC by 39 points. If Houston struggles with this team, they'll have larger problems at hand.
10. UCF Knights
Scott Frost has his work cut out for him as he enters year two of rebuilding the program he once had, looking like the best team in the state of Florida. There are still too many unknowns about the Knights to consider them a true threat.
9. Oregon State Beavers
The Cougars needed a 17-point comeback and overtime to beat Oregon State this past year. However, the Beavers limited Houston's run game to just 2.7 yards per play, which was abnormal for a Houston squad that ranked No. 37 in college football in rushing yards per game. Oregon State will have a new head coach, Houston will be amped to ensure a repeat of 2025 doesn't happen and the Cougars simply have a much more talented roster.
8. Cincinnati Bearcats
The Bearcats may see the biggest slide in the Big 12 from 2025 to 2026, as they lost star quarterback Brendan Sorsby to the transfer portal. Scott Satterfield was on the hot seat up until this past season, and a lot of the success and the team's identity was due to Sorsby. I expect their quarterback play with Georgia Southern transfer JC French IV or Penn transfer Liam O'Brien to not nearly be as good, which should make for an easier week in Big 12 play for the Cougars.
7. West Virginia Mountaineers
The Mountaineers are headed into year two of their rebuild under Rich Rodriguez, and while they should be better than they were a year ago, I expect their ceiling to be limited with Michael Hawkins at quarterback. The toughest aspect of this matchup is that Houston will have to go to Morgantown in November.
6. Colorado Buffaloes
Another road game in November against a cold-weather team, Houston handled Colorado fairly easily this past season. Now, Colorado did have a backup quarterback starting, and they were an absolute mess the entire season. They should be a bowl team this time around, and could pose a larger threat.
5. Baylor Bears
The success of the Baylor Bears hinges on how good DJ Lagway can be. If he is as good as he was once advertised, he very well could be the best quarterback the Cougars play all season long.
4. Kansas State Wildcats
The Wildcats were viewed as a Big 12 contender a year ago, and ended up being one of the worst teams in the league. With former star quarterback Collin Klein at the helm now, I expect him to unlock Avery Johnson in a way that the previous regime failed to do, making this Kansas State team scarier than people realize.
3. Oklahoma State Cowboys
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are already being tabbed as the "next Indiana." Eric Morris brought around 20 transfers from North Texas with him to Stillwater, where they are expected to be a vintage Big 12 team that can hang 50 on anyone. Getting into a shootout with this squad doesn't seem to be the best way to get things done for Houston, but they could find themselves needing to play out of their comfort zone to keep up.
2. Utah Utes
Despite losing head coach Kyle Whittingham and a slew of key players to Michigan, playing in Salt Lake City is one of the toughest things to do. Utah is really good at home, and they returned star quarterback Devon Dampier, who would be one of the best in the conference.
1. Texas Tech Red Raiders
The biggest spenders in the Big 12, Texas Tech, are widely expected to be playing for a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff bid again in 2026. They upgraded at quarterback with Brendan Sorsby, reloaded across the defensive line after losing their top pass rushers to the NFL and Houston has to go to Lubbock to face them.
