List of Houston Cougars football seasons

The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH" (spoken as "U of H"). Houston has been a member of the Big 12 Conference since 2023. Since the beginning of the 2024 season, the Cougars have been coached by Willie Fritz, the program's 16th head coach. The team played its first season in 1946 and has since won or tied for 11 conference championships and six division championships. The Cougars have played in 30 post-season bowl games with a record of 13–16–1.[1][2] [3][4] [5][6]

Seasons

Year Coach Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
Jewell Wallace (Lone Star Conference) (1946–1947)
1946 Houston 4–6 1–4 5th
1947 Houston 3–8 0–6 7th
Clyde Lee (Lone Star Conference) (1948)
1948 Houston 5–6 3–3 4th
Clyde Lee (Gulf Coast Conference) (1949)
1949 Houston 5–4–1 1–2 3rd
Clyde Lee (Independent) (1950)
1950 Houston 4–6
Clyde Lee (Missouri Valley Conference) (1951–1954)
1951 Houston 6–5 2–2 4th W Salad
1952 Houston 8–2 3–0 1st 19
1953 Houston 4–4–1 1–2 T–3rd
1954 Houston 5–5 3–1 2nd
Bill Meek (Missouri Valley Conference) (1955–1956)
1955 Houston 6–4 2–2 3rd
1956 Houston 7–2–1 4–0 1st
Hal Lahar (Missouri Valley Conference) (1957–1959)
1957 Houston 5–4–1 3–0 1st
1958 Houston 5–4 2–2 T–2nd
1959 Houston 3–7 3–1 T–1st
Hal Lahar (Independent) (1960–1961)
1960 Houston 6–4
1961 Houston 5–4–1
Bill Yeoman (Independent) (1962–1975)
1962 Houston 7–4 W Tangerine
1963 Houston 2–8
1964 Houston 2–6–1
1965 Houston 4–5–1
1966 Houston 8–2 17
1967 Houston 7–3 Ineligible[n 1] 19
1968 Houston 6–2–2 Ineligible[n 2] 20 18
1969 Houston 9–2 W Astro-Bluebonnet 16 12
1970 Houston 8–3 13 19
1971 Houston 9–3 L Astro-Bluebonnet 14 17
1972 Houston 6–4–1
1973 Houston 11–1 W Astro-Bluebonnet 13 9
1974 Houston 8–3–1 T Astro-Bluebonnet 11 19
1975 Houston 2–8
Bill Yeoman (Southwest Conference) (1976–1986)
1976 Houston 10–2 7–1 T–1st W Cotton 4 4
1977 Houston 6–5 4–4 T–4th Ineligible[n 3]
1978 Houston 9–3 7–1 1st L Cotton 11 10
1979 Houston 11–1 7–1 T–1st W Cotton 5 5
1980 Houston 7–5 5–3 T–2nd W Garden State
1981 Houston 7–4–1 5–2–1 3rd L Sun
1982 Houston 5–5–1 4–3–1 4th
1983 Houston 4–7 3–5 7th
1984 Houston 7–5 6–2 T–1st L Cotton
1985 Houston 4–7 3–5 6th
1986 Houston 1–10 0–8 9th
Jack Pardee (Southwest Conference) (1987–1989)
1987 Houston 4–6–1 2–4–1 7th
1988 Houston 9–3 5–2 3rd L Aloha 18
1989 Houston 9–2 6–2 T–2nd Ineligible[n 4] [n 4] 14
John Jenkins (Southwest Conference) (1990–1992)
1990 Houston 10–1 7–1 2nd Ineligible[n 5] [n 5] 10
1991 Houston 4–7 3–5 7th
1992 Houston 4–7 2–5 7th
Kim Helton (Southwest Conference) (1993–1995)
1993 Houston 1–9–1 1–5–1 T–7th
1994 Houston 1–10 1–6 6th
1995 Houston 2–9 2–5 5th
Kim Helton (Conference USA) (1996–1999)
1996 Houston 7–5 4–1 T–1st L Liberty
1997 Houston 3–8 2–4 T–4th
1998 Houston 3–8 2–4 T–5th
1999 Houston 7–4 3–3 6th
Dana Dimel (Conference USA) (2000–2002)
2000 Houston 3–8 2–5 T–7th
2001 Houston 0–11 0–7 10th
2002 Houston 5–7 3–5 8th
Art Briles (Conference USA) (2003–2007)
2003 Houston 7–6 4–4 T–6th L Hawai'i
2004 Houston 3–8 3–5 T–5th
2005 Houston 6–6 4–4 T–3rd (West) L Fort Worth
2006 Houston 10–4 7–1 1st (West) L Liberty
2007 Houston[n 6] 8–5[n 6] 6–2 T–1st (West) L Texas
Kevin Sumlin (Conference USA) (2008–2011)
2008 Houston 8–5 6–2 3rd (West) W Armed Forces
2009 Houston 10–4 6–2 T–1st (West) L Armed Forces
2010 Houston 5–7 4–4 3rd (West)
2011 Houston[n 7] 13–1[n 7] 8–0 1st (West) W TicketCity 14 18
Tony Levine (Conference USA) (2012)
2012 Houston 5–7 4–4 T–3rd (West)
Tony Levine (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2014)
2013 Houston 8–5 5–3 4th L BBVA Compass
2014 Houston[n 8] 8–5[n 8] 5–3 T–4th W Armed Forces
Tom Herman (American Athletic Conference) (2015–2016)
2015 Houston 13–1 7–1 T–1st (West) W Peach† 8 8
2016 Houston[n 9] 9–4[n 9] 5–3 T–3rd (West) L Las Vegas
Major Applewhite (American Athletic Conference) (2017–2018)
2017 Houston 7–5 5–3 2nd (West) L Hawai'i
2018 Houston 8–5 5–3 T–1st (West) L Armed Forces
Dana Holgorsen (American Athletic Conference) (2019–2022)
2019 Houston 4–8 2–6 T–5th (West)
2020 Houston 3–5 3–3 6th L New Mexico
2021 Houston 12–2 8–0 T–1st W Birmingham 17 17
2022 Houston 8–5 5–3 T–4th W Independence
Dana Holgorsen (Big 12 Conference) (2023)
2023 Houston 4–8 2–7 T–11th
Willie Fritz (Big 12 Conference) (2024–present)
2024 Houston 4–8 3–6 T–11th
Total: 476–402–15
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

Notes

  1. ^ At this time, Houston was on probation from the NCAA, and therefore was not eligible to compete in any post-season bowl games.
  2. ^ At this time, Houston was on probation from the NCAA, and therefore was not eligible to compete in any post-season bowl games.
  3. ^ Houston was put on probation during this season for recruiting violations and was unable to compete in any bowl games.
  4. ^ a b Under probation by the NCAA from rules violated in prior seasons, Houston was disallowed from participating in a bowl game, television appearances, and the Coaches Poll.
  5. ^ a b Due to NCAA sanctions, Houston was ineligible to be invited to a bowl game and was banned from being ranked in the Coaches Poll.
  6. ^ a b After Briles resigned to accept the head coaching job at Baylor, Chris Thurmond served as interim head coach for the 2007 Texas Bowl.
  7. ^ a b Sumlin left for Texas A&M University following the regular season. Tony Levine served as interim head coach for the Cougars in the TicketCity Bowl.
  8. ^ a b David Gibbs coached the 2015 Armed Forces Bowl after Levine was fired.
  9. ^ a b Herman left for Texas after the regular season; new head coach Major Applewhite coached the Cougars against San Diego State in the Las Vegas Bowl.

References

  1. ^ "Houston Yearly Totals". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  2. ^ "Houston Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on December 4, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  3. ^ "Houston Championships". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  4. ^ "Football Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 21, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
  5. ^ "Houston Bowl History". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  6. ^ "Houston In the Polls". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.