For the last decade and change, the University of Houston has lived its conference life in the American Athletic Conference, a virtual hodge podge of orphaned former big conference schools and intriguing mid major types scattered across various collegiate outposts on either side of the Mississippi River, above and below the Mason-Dixon Line.
From a success standpoint, it's been a fine existence, highlighted by a trip to the men's basketball Final Four a couple seasons ago, and a trip to the Peach Bowl in 2015. However, the vagabond nature of the dozen or so teams always made rivalries a difficult thing to nurture. Really, there were no true rivalries, not like back in the days of the Southwest Conference, with the glut of Texas schools involved.
Well, that all changes in 2023, with the University of Houston set to make the jump up into the Power Five conferences of collegiate sports. In 2023, the Cougars officially join the Big XII, and on Tuesday, the 2023 college football schedule was out. Needless to say, this is a going to be a LOT more fun than having East Carolina and Memphis invade TDECU Stadium.
The schedule begins with a bang, with 2022 national runner up TCU coming to TDECU Stadium on September 16 for the Cougars' first ever game in the Big XII. That should be an amazing atmosphere, but if you're looking for a "circle the date" game for the Cougars' home schedule, you should know that the University of Texas invades TDECU Stadium on October 21,
Of course, one of the reasons the University of Houston is even in the Big XII is because the conference felt the need to expand after Texas and Oklahoma decided to move to the SEC, which should take place in 2024 or 2025. In the meantime, we get at least one awkward season with Texas and Oklahoma as lame duck conference members, and every opposing fan base wanting to kick both schools in the teeth!
The Cougars will play seven home games, including the season opener against UTSA on September 2 and another non-conference game September 23 against Sam Houston, which makes the transition to FBS and Conference USA. With the Bayou Bucket game at Rice on September 9, the Cougars play six of the first seven games inside the Houston city limits, and leave the state of Texas just twice all season long. The Cougars won’t have to play Oklahoma, Iowa State, BYU or Kansas in 2023.
Here is the University of Houston's 2023 football schedule in its entirety:
September 2 (Saturday) vs UTSA
September 9 (Saturday) at Rice
September 16 (Saturday) vs TCU
September 23 (Saturday) s Sam Houston
September 30 (Saturday) at Texas Tech
October 12 (Thursday) vs West Virginia
October 21 (Saturday) vs Texas
October 28 (Saturday) at Kansas State
November 4 (Saturday) at Baylor
November 11 (Saturday) vs Cincinnati
November 18 (Saturday) vs Oklahoma State
November 25 (Saturday) at UCF
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