Big Win Pushes Cougars Higher in Polls

Just hours after the Cougars rallied for a 29-28 win over Texas Tech on ESPN 2 and on John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium, Houston woke this morning as the nation's No. 12 team according to the Associated Press and No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.

The thrilling come-from-behind win in front of a Robertson Stadium-record crowd of 32,114 vaulted UH to just on the cusp on the Top 10, heading into this week's Conference USA opener at UTEP at No. 12/15. The Cougars trail No. 10 Cincinnati and No. 11 TCU by less than 100 points in the AP poll, while Houston has three one-loss teams, Georgia (No. 14), Penn State (No. 13) and Oklahoma State (No. 12), as well as TCU and Cincinnati keeping it out of the Coaches' Top 10.

Houston was last ranked this high in 1991, when it opened the year at No. 12 in the season opener against Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31. The last time the Cougars were ranked heading into October was in 1990, when Houston entered the month at No. 13 and rose as high as No. 6 and then No. 3 before finishing the campaign as the nation's No. 10 squad in the AP.

With the win over the Red Raiders the Cougars are now 6-0 when ranked at No. 17 (AP) and 1-0 when the nation's No. 23 team.

The Cougars return to action on Saturday, Oct. 3, opening up league action by traveling to El Paso to face the 1-3 UTEP Miners. Game time is slated for 8 pm CDT, with the pregame show on 790 The Sports Animal beginning at 7 pm CDT. The Voice of the Cougars Tom Franklin will call the action, with former Cougars Ted Pardee in the booth and Chuck Brown on the sidelines.