The Houston Cougars Could Be Better Than Most Believe In 2026
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The Houston Cougars' 2025 college football season was full of positive moments, from their first ranking in over three years with their big win over No. 24 Arizona State all the way to their gritty 38-35 win in the Texas Bowl over the LSU Tigers.
And with quarterback Conner Weigman and wide receiver Amare Thomas returning to the team, as well as five-star backup quarterback Keisean Henderson waiting in the wings, Willie Fritz's squad could be more dangerous than many are giving them credit for in the 2026 season.
And it's safe to say that college football analyst Josh Pate is a firm believer in that.
Cougars Ranked Inside Top 20 of Josh Pate's Early Top 25
The ESPN contributor gave his take on a way-too-early top 25 with the 2026 season still a solid seven months away, and had nothing but respect for the Coogs, spotting them at No. 18, the third of four Big 12 schools behind Texas Tech (No. 12), BYU (No. 14), and ahead of Utah (No. 19).
Houston finished with their first 10-win season since the 2021 season and secured themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12 throughout a majority of the campaign, aside from their upset loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers late in the season and a blowout loss to the Red Raiders after Weigman suffered a concussion in early October.
Topping the analyst's list were two teams that just barely missed the College Football Playoff in 2025, Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame Fighting Irish, ahead of the Texas Longhorns and the reigning national champion Indiana Hoosiers, with a pair of Big 10 powerhouses in the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks rounding out the top five.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are expected to make a big turnaround according to Pate, with their hiring of Iowa State's Matt Campbell and transfer portal work giving them enough props for No. 15 in the rank.
Here is Pate's full top 25 list:
1) Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2) Texas Longhorns
3) Indiana Hoosiers
4) Ohio State Buckeyes
5) Oregon Ducks
6) Miami Hurricanes
7) Georgia Bulldogs
8) Texas A&M Aggies
9) Oklahoma Sooners
10) LSU Tigers
11) USC Trojans
12) Texas Tech Red Raiders
13) Alabama Crimson Tide
14) BYU Cougars
15) Penn State Nittany Lions
16) Ole Miss Rebels
17) Michigan Wolverines
18) Houston Cougars
19) Utah Utes
20) SMU Mustangs
21) Missouri Tigers
22) Iowa Hawkeyes
23) Vanderbilt Commodores
24) Louisville Cardinals
25) Washington Huskies
