Houston Cougars Projected to Rise in the AP Top 25 After Their Bye Week
Houston did not play Saturday, but the Week 9 results around the country moved the Cougars anyway: On3's projection of Sunday's AP Top 25 puts 6-2 Houston at No. 17, up from 18, and Brett McMurphy's ballot has the Cougars at No. 15.
HOUSTON - A bye week can still move a team - when the ranked teams around it lose. Houston (6-2) sat out Week 9, and the projections for Sunday's AP Top 25 have the Cougars climbing: On3's projected poll places Houston at No. 17, up from a previous ranking of 18, and Brett McMurphy's AP ballot, published by On3, lists Houston at No. 15.
Both are projections, not the official poll, which the Associated Press releases Sunday. On3's projection notes the shape of Houston's season: a bye after a hard-fought road loss at Utah a week earlier, with the Cougars' other loss at Texas Tech, and a team that has been highly competitive against the best Big 12 opponents it has faced.
The same projection is blunt about the road ahead: with two losses, Houston has no margin for error the rest of the way, and a path into the College Football Playoff as a two-loss Big 12 team would be difficult even with quality losses.
Saturday's chaos is the reason a team that did not play rises - No. 2 Ohio State lost at USC, and ranked SMU, Northwestern, Arizona, Oklahoma State and Wisconsin all lost, per the day's projection accounts read this run. Where the official voters land Houston will be known Sunday.
