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2026 Preseason Houston Cougars Rankings

Main Poll Voters

User Rank Rationale
skuhlke 9 (11-1)
A_Rolling_Baneling 12
CommodoreN7 12
SIMBONEGTP 12
SlaminSammons 13
Staind075 13
ToeInDigDeep 14
BallSoHerd 15
Justanother_0 15 The popular pick for most underrated team, Houston went a quiet 10-3 last year. Sure, actually looking at that 10-3 reveals one of the stranger end-of-season records that a 10 win team has put out, but I am both a believer in Willie Fritz and his team. Remember, only one coach has led a G6 team to a NY6 bowl win in the 2020's and that was Fritz.
MainPeanut25 15 They’re not Indiana, but they’re really underrated
Bank_Gothic 16
BendrickLamar19 16
GeauxTri 16
Tornadohunter24 16
Conn3er 17
Helifino 17
SufferingfOrLife 17 Reasons I like them: #17 in returning production, hopeful for a Makhi Hughes bounce-back, Connor Weigman is a great QB and coming off the best season of his career, and the WR duo of Amare Thomas & Trent Walker is one of the best in the Big 12.

Reasons I dislike them: defensive line concerns, lots of close wins last year; can it be replicated?
aggiebruin27 18
BUSean 18
Ch-i-ef 18
ch1l1_ch33s3 18
diehardcubforever 18
EpicSchwinn 18 My Big 12 dark horse. The Fritz schedule is exactly on schedule and they have the money to back it up. Their game against Tech will be a top 20 game this season.
ikindalikelemons 18 Now I personally hope they hand the keys to Keisean Henderson. I don't think they're gonna win the Big 12 this year, but I think they're good and I think they can build toward being a solidified playoff contender in 2027. 2026 should be a building year while still having the potential to contend for a Big 12 title and potential playoff berth.
PSUMediaPA 18
redwave2505 18
TaylorLeprechaun 18
the_neverdoctor 18
xX_GIGA_MAN_Xx 18 Willie Fritz is good. They were good last year (WVU's first win over an opponent that finished the year ranked since 2018!). They'll probably be good this year. Who Knows. Watch La La Land (2016)
dabul-master 19
DarkLegend64 19
HideNZeke 19
NyquillusDillwad20 19
Pyromania1983 19
Roscoe_Filburn 19
sgtshenanigans 19
SwissArmyScythe 19
AJ_CC 20
AllHawkeyesGoToHell 20
Blazeth 20
Corgi_Koala 20
CptCheese 20
cvsprinter1 20
djowen68 20
dschinghiskhan 20
elnino550 20
kflinderman 20
Klaassy23 20
Lefunnymaymays4lief 20 Connor Weigman turned it around under Willie Fritz after leaving A&M, and he may not even be the starter to end the year with the top overall recruit from last year Keisean Henderson now on the roster. Wherever Fritz goes he just wins, and perhaps he can leverage that into a BXII title game appearance in 2026, if not more
Muffinnnnnnn 20
plannedsickdays 20
redrumsoxLoL 20 This Houston team is an exciting one to me. Quarterback Conner Weigman has had a strange path in college but has finally delivered as a Cougar while running back Makhi Hughes will be very important after re-uniting with his head coach at Tulane, Willie Fritz.
12panther 21
BananaBouquet 21
Blooblod 21
bretticus733 21
fredmerc111 21
jonstark19 21
jrluhn 21
Laschoni 21
malowry0124 21
manbeardawg 21
noahthearc 21
one98d 21
outthawazoo 21
RiffRamBahZoo 21
seaotter2 21
shifty1032231 21
SteemieRayVaughn 21
_fastball 22
ALStark69 22 -2 Biggest faller: James Madison (11->UR)
ColombianInIowa24 22
Doogitywoogity 22 I like Conner Weigman. I said it. Sue me. Don’t sue me I can’t afford it.
dukemetoo 22
Jerrywelfare 22
Longvols 22
TolkienFan71 22
Acm0028 23
bannista7 23
brucewaynewins 23
CambodianDrywall 23
ChaseTheFalcon 23
cyberchaox 23
grey_pilgrim_ 23
IceColdDrPepper_Here 23
jrich960608 23
ManiacalBlazer 23
monkeymatt1836 23
OldCoaly 23
PalmettoFace 23
Sometimeswelose 23
spmartin1993 23
texas2089 23
Zloggt 23 Wouldn't it be hilarious if the Coogs' football team ended up winning a natty BEFORE their basketball team? I mean, they're a red-colored team who's still new to the top of the FBS after being historically whatever AND ranked somewhere in the 20s like a certain Hoosier team last year...never say never!
Buckeyes2010 24
Drexlore 24
galacticdude7 24
HelioOne 24
Jakesnake42 24
joebob431 24
MemeofMemeJTG999999 24 End of Last Season: #23 (10-3) |
Next Week: vs Oregon State |
Projected Bowl: Pop-Tarts Bowl vs Houston
Our-Gardian-Angel 24
PeteyNice 24
Pure_Protein_Machine 24
retnuh101 24
SCsprinter13 24
tdoger 24
thescottula 24
TheUltimate721 24
True_Ad5324 24 Can weigman have UH be a big 12 contender
udderlymoovelous 24
WarEagle9 24
colton_97 25
Corporal_Hicks 25
PattyKane16 25
Rakarei 25
Shion314 25
titansfan174 25

Provisional Poll Voters

User Rank Rationale
Star_Wars_Sith 12
isrealball 13
Pure-Shirt-5831 13
quantum_jedi 13
SportsCat4 14
bigred91224 15
alttabbins 16
Crelc3 16
josh55134 16
Nervous_Metal_9445 16
SomerandomIDFBfan 16
throwaway_6786 16
BoilerUp28 17
d1sportsball 17 If Weigman goes down, a 5 star backup is pretty good for a school like UH
KansasChaser2021 17
Resolve-Opening 17
BlueRFR3100 18
CallMeTheKing 18
ianmcmoney 18
jtchr33 18 Utah comment applies here. Houston is the obvious dark horse big 12 pick. Can they actually live up or get to competing for the conference title? Very excited for the Utah game, two very similar teams and styles as of recent. Which one will prevail and have a great chance to make the CCG.
NoOutdoorSoup 18
70277027 19
EL-YEO 19
Esb5415 19
Impossible-Still-349 19
JackWK_Gaming 19
Yelich04 19
ArlyntheAwesome 20
beckett929 20
bolts_win_again 20
JJones927 20
laxintx 20
Sflabuckeye13 20
666haha 21
bigheadsoftbody 21
Billiam501 21
buccaneerboy22 21
DesignerClub1887 21
epyoch 21
geordieColt88 21
myworld3 21
noah_divine 21 listen to me Willie. listen close. if you start Keisean Henderson, you are going to win the Big 12. trust me. you have the team to do it. just start the high upside freshman.
Rishik01 21
SaguaroCactus19 21
saquad69 21
bruhstevenson 22
Elegant_Tiger6870 22
gonshpreds1 22
LegionMammal978 22 [T1.] Group Score .500, Team Score 0.
LightningDusty 22
logace444444444 22
loneSTAR_06 22
mr_longfellow_deeds 22
OG_Felwinter 22
PsychologicalFox8660 22
Real-Plant-5722 22
Repulsive_Rub6443 22
samtaylor92 22
thehornedlamb 22
WBLwiffleball 22
baileyx96 23
DwayneBaconStan 23
fm22fnam 23
Front-Broccoli5957 23
Kareem89086 23
Living_Human 23 17.88
NebraskaPlainsman 23
SignificanceFirm2398 23
ted1995 23
TyRoland06 23
ValarMorghulis_17 23
ElyxUW 24
PrideSax711 24
RJTrey 24
Salmon-Dude 24
TheBeekman8 24
Hetoxy 25
Midnight-Mustang 25
Yamiosum 25
Blue = Human
Red = Computer
Green = Hybrid

Bold = before the AP poll was published
Normal = after the AP poll was published

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