5 reasons Houston Cougars are national title contenders
By John Buhler
3. A chance at perfection with hardest game out of the way
Let’s be real. The Cougars won’t face a team as tough as Oklahoma in its 11 remaining regular season games. Houston still has three interesting conference games on the road (Cincinnati, Navy, Memphis) and potentially a Playoff play-in game versus the ACC’s Louisville Cardinals on November 17th at home. However, having already knocked off Oklahoma paints a clear picture to College Football Playoff.
Cincinnati and Navy are two of the better teams in the American. Memphis was last year, but lost quarterback Paxton Lynch to the NFL and head coach Justin Fuente to the ACC’s Virginia Tech Hokies. Louisville is good enough to win the ACC, but may suffer a loss or two to Atlantic Division rivals Clemson and Florida State before a Thursday night date with the Cougars in Houston.
There is a good chance that no Power 5 team goes undefeated in 2016. Alabama can still lose an SEC game, and probably will. Clemson, Florida State, and Louisville are poised to beat each other up in the ACC Atlantic. Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State all play in the Big Ten East. The Big 12 and Pac-12 have to play better going forward.
Houston’s chance at perfection is very real entering Week 2. It’s too early to say that the Cougars won’t suffer a letdown at any point this season, but Houston’s last two wins came against top 10 teams in Florida State and now Oklahoma.
If Houston runs the table in the regular season and is a perfect 13-0 after the AAC Championship Game, the Cougars will present a compelling case for a No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff. From there, it’s all about matchups in the postseason tournament.
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