Here's Where The Houston Cougars Finished in the Final College Football Playoff Rankings
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The Houston Cougars have been fully transformed by second-year head coach Willie Fritz, who engineered a complete turnaround of the Coogs program in just two years. As Fritz inherited a four-win team the season before he got to Houston, and in year one, it was the same fate for the Coogs, winning just four games in Fritz's first season at the helm.
And now in year two, the Cougars have been revitalized as they end the season with a huge win total improvement, with a 9-3 overall record and a 6-3 conference record, ending the year towards the top of the Big 12 standings.
For the impressive season, the Coogs earned some recognition in the final College Football Playoff rankings of the season, coming in ranked at No. 21 on Selection Sunday. The Coogs didn't move from last week after making it back to rankings after their win against Baylor, slotted in between AAC champions Tulane and the ACC's Georgia Tech in the final rankings.
Staying strong at 2️⃣1️⃣ in the @CFBPlayoff rankings 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sMsiQdj7UD
— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) December 7, 2025
Cougars 2025 Season Recap
After an exciting offseason with a number of changes to both the player personnel, with several incoming transfers that were looked at to make an immediate impact, and switches to the coaching staff, the Coogs had a different feel for the 2025 season.
And those changes proved to work immediately as the Cougars began the 2025 season a perfect 4-0 for the first time since the 2016 season after beating Stephen F. Austin, Rice, Colorado, and Oregon State through the first weeks of the season.
The Coogs would take their first fall of the year after losing to a high-powered Texas Tech Red Raiders team that proved to be a real challenge for other teams, as the Red Raiders became Big 12 Champions and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff as the No. 4 overall seed.
Following the first loss of the season, the Coogs would rattle off three straight wins over conference opponents, getting out to an impressive 7-1 start to the year, earning bowl eligibility and themselves a spot at No. 22 in both the AP and Coaches Polls for the first time since 2022.
And the week after, while the Cougars enjoyed their bye week, they found their name on the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2021, coming in at No. 23.
The final four weeks of the season were tricky for Houston, as it finished the final stretch of the season 2-2, in which the Coogs fell out of the rankings altogether at one point. However, with their win against Baylor in the final week of the regular season, the Coogs are able to finish an impressive 2025 season ranked at No. 21.
