The long-awaited Houston football schedule for its first season in the Big 12 is finally here after the conference released the 2023 schedule on Tuesday afternoon.
Right off the bat, UH faces a big test in its first Big 12 game as TCU, fresh off a trip to the College Football Playoff title game, comes to TDECU Stadium on Sept. 16 to kick off a new era of Cougars football.
On Oct. 21, the old Southwest Conference rivalry between UH and Texas will be reignited as the Cougars host the Longhorns for the first meeting between the two programs since 2002. Texas leads the all-time series 16-7-2.
Additionally, UH will host West Virginia (Oct. 12), former American Athletic Conference foe Cincinnati (Nov. 11) as well as Oklahoma State (Nov. 18) for a total of five Big 12 games at TDECU Stadium in the program’s inaugural year in the conference.
The Cougars will travel to Lubbock for the second straight season to face Texas Tech for its first Big 12 road game on Sept. 30. The rest of UH’s conference road schedule consists of the Cougars going to Kansas State (Oct. 28), Baylor (Nov. 4) and UCF (Nov. 25).
UH won’t play BYU, Kansas, Iowa State or Oklahoma in 2023.
For the second consecutive year, UH opens up its season against UTSA as the Cougars will host the Roadrunners on Sept. 2.
Next, UH will head 4.6 miles down the road to Rice to face the Owls in the 42nd edition of the Bayou Bucket. The Cougars have won seven straight against the Owls, a streak that began during the 2011 season.
The Cougars wrap up their nonconference schedule hosting Sam Houston on Sept. 23.
In total, UH will play seven home games and eight within the city limits. The Cougars won’t leave Texas until their eighth game of the season against Kansas State.