Houston forces way into CFP contention with big win at Arizona State

If you have been sleeping on the Houston Cougars this season, it's time to wake up. Because they are for real, and they might be playing their way into contention for a spot in the Big 12 championship game and perhaps even a spot in the College Football Playoff. 

They sent a big message for that on Saturday night with an impressive — and emphatic — 24-16 win over No. 24 Arizona State.

That win improves Houston to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big 12 play, with only Cincinnati, BYU and Texas Tech ahead of them.

Houston needs help, but schedule is favorable

The biggest thing the Cougars have going for them so far is that their remaining schedule does not feature any ranked teams and none of the top teams in the conference.

After Saturday, Houston's remaining games are against West Virginia, UCF, TCU and Baylor. 

None of those teams is in the top half of the conference standings, and Houston should be favored against all of them.

The problem for the Cougars is that they do not have an opportunity to play any of the three teams ahead of them, which could give them a tiebreaker. 

But while Houston does not get that opportunity itself, Cincinnati and BYU — the only two unbeaten teams in conference play — have to play each other on Nov. 22.

BYU also plays Texas Tech next week.

Somebody is going to lose those games. That alone keeps Houston in the race as long as it keeps taking care of its own business. 

Whether or not Houston gets to that point is secondary to the fact that second-year head coach Willie Fritz has put the program back on the map after having fallen off the past few years. Fritz performed a massive turnaround at Tulane in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, winning 12 and 11 games before leaving for the Houston job.

After a tough debut season in 2024 with only four wins, he has already exceeded that total this season and is in a position to keep building on it. Perhaps even more than the most optimistic Cougar fan could have hoped for this quickly.