Houston Featured in 'Way Too Early' Top 25 College Football Rankings
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It took the Houston Cougars going 7-1 and knocking off No. 24 Arizona State before they finally garnered enough votes to be featured in the AP Poll this past season.
While they never surpassed the No. 21 mark in either the AP Poll or College Football Playoff, the Cougars did impress plenty of people around the sport. They finished the year 10-3 following a victory over LSU in the Texas Bowl, and heading into the 2026 season, are no longer viewed as the sneaky team in the Big 12.
The best example of this is ESPN's college football insider Heather Dinich including the Cougars in her "way too early" top 25 college football rankings.
Dinich had the Cougars coming in at No. 22 ahead of Utah, Virginia Tech and Boise State, while coming directly behind Washington, Iowa, Louisville and SMU.
If the Cougars were to, in fact, open the 2026 college football season ranked, it'd mark the first time since 2022 and just the third time since 1995. Some other teams of note featured in her rankings were the BYU Cougars at No. 14 and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at No. 12.
Following the team's win over LSU, Fritz touched on just how special it was for the program to finish with 10 wins as a member of a Power 4 conference.
"It's big," Fritz said. "I know that Houston has had some 10-win seasons in the past, but you know, but 1990 was the last time Houston had 10 wins in a Power Four conference. I've played in some of those other leagues Houston was playing in at that time, and those were great teams that U of H had, but to do it every single week in the Big 12 is difficult, and then to play an SEC opponent in this bowl game, every week you gotta be ready to play."
The Cougars will certainly be tested again next season, as they are set to play Texas Tech, Utah and Kansas State on the road.
The Cougs will open the 2026 season against Oregon State, which took them to overtime in 2025 despite having a down year. If Houston continues on the trajectory that they are currently on, there is a tremendous chance that we will be talking about them in conversations centered around the Big 12 Championship and the College Football Playoff.
