2024 NCAAF Cheat Sheet: Houston Cougars Stats & Odds
Will the 2024 Houston Cougars Stats Be An Improvement From A Dreadful 2023 Season?
No Place to Go But Up for the Houston Cougars in 2024
Houston is still looking to make an impact in the Big 12. It didn’t happen a season ago when the Cougars won just two conference games. The Cougars were 6-6 against the spread (4-3 after a loss).
Houston did cover in five of its nine college football games as the underdog. Houston won just three of its nine games when listed as the underdog, so that is something to keep in mind when it comes to the 2024 Houston Cougars stats.
Just five of Houston’s 12 games a season ago finished under the total while six of the nine games when Houston was the underdog went under the total.
Houston ranked 13th in the Big 12 in total offense and 13th in total defense among Big 12 teams in 2023. With 14 teams in the Big 12 a season ago, that is a problem when there are only 14 teams in a conference. Don’t expect to see Houston among the Big 12 teams showing up in the college football rankings.
Houston Cougars At A Glance
| Odds to Win | Opening Odds | Current Odds |
| Championship | +80000 | +50000 |
| Conference | +18000 | +15000 |
| Regular Season Win Total | 4.5 (o +144, u- -178) | 4.5 (o +144, u- -178) |
| To Make Playoffs | Yes N/A, No N/A | Yes N/A, No N/A |
Will Newcomers Make a Difference On Defense?
Houston lost some key college football players via transfer with defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell (6.5 sacks in 2023) landing at Oregon, leading receiver Sam Brown now at Miami, receiver Matthew Golden (team-high six touchdown catches) headed to Texas and offensive lineman Tyler Johnson off to Colorado.
The Cougars did add 27 incoming transfers. Tulane linebacker Corey Platt, Louisiana linebacker Kendre Gant, Michigan State tight end Maliq Carr. Thirteen of the top 20 incoming transfers are on defense so perhaps that will pay dividends this season. Will they make a difference when it comes to the 2024 Houston Cougars stats?
The good news is that there are seven players hailing from Texas on the preseason All Big 12 team but the bad news is that none of them will be suiting up for Houston.
Championship Odds: There Is Always Basketball Season
The Houston basketball team deserves mention in national championship conversations. The football team, not so much when it comes to the CFP championship game odds.
Houston has lost its last 12 games against ranked opponents with the last win when facing a team in the top 25 coming in 2017 against South Florida. Ten of those losses have come by double digits so there is some work to do for the Cougars to be in position to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff field.
Houston faces Oklahoma in Week 2 as the Cougars will get to see what a program that has been in contention for the national title in past years looks like.
Houston has won its last two college bowl games and it would be a successful season to make it back into a bowl game this year.
Conference Odds: Cougars Look To Avoid the Cellar
Houston is tied with BYU for longest odds to win the Big 12 and in the preseason Big 12 media poll, the Cougars were only ahead of Arizona State.
Five Big 12 teams received votes in the preseason poll and the Cougars play four of them in a brutal stretch from Oct. 19 to Nov. 15 with games against Kansas and Arizona on the road as well as home dates with preseason favorite Utah and a Kansas State that received just one fewer first-place vote than Utah.
Houston ends the season with games against Baylor and BYU. If there is still something to play for, perhaps the Cougars can win at least one of those games. When projecting the 2024 Houston Cougars stats, a six-win season would be a step in the right direction.
Regular Season Wins: Getting to Five Wins Might Be a Tall Task
Assuming that the Cougars will be tamed against Oklahoma, that puts plenty of emphasis on Houston to beat UNLV and Rice in non-conference play to have a chance to go over 4.5 wins during the regular season.
The Cougars are only three-point favorites according to the NCAAF odds against visiting UNLV in the season opener so it is not a sure thing that they head into conference play at 2-1. Houston does return quarterback Donovan Smith but new pass catchers will need to emerge.
Most big-time throws last season for P4 QBs in the 2025 NFL Draft:
Garrett Greene, West Virginia 31
Preston Stone, SMU 30
Jalen Milroe, Alabama 27
Tyler Van Dyke, Wisconsin 24
Cam Ward, Miami 24
Brady Cook, Missouri 23
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado 23
Donovan Smith, Houston 22— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) June 30, 2024
Houston won four games in 2023 but the only team that the Cougars beat a season ago that is on this year’s schedule is Baylor.
To Make Playoffs: Reaching A Bowl Game A More Realistic Goal
The good news is that the Big 12 champion is likely to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff now that it has expanded to 12 teams and the championship team from the five highest rated conferences receiving spots in the field.
However, the Big 12 is lagging behind the SEC, Big Ten, and ACC so there could be only one Big 12 team in the CFP. Asking Houston to go from three conference wins in 2023 to winning the Big 12 in a span of a year might be a little ambitious.
Side Bets
It takes some searching to find Donovan Smith’s name among the players leading the way in the odds of winning the Heisman Trophy so perhaps the best option heading into the NCAAF season is for Houston to cover as 3-point favorites against UNLV in the Aug. 31 season opener.
For NCAAF betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
