Houston Cougars 2025 Season Preview

The Houston Cougars enter the 2025 season still seeking their footing in the Big 12 Conference. After a disappointing 4–8 finish in 2024, head coach Willie Fritz faces the challenge of turning things around in Year 2. The Cougars showed flashes of offensive potential but struggled with depth and consistency on both sides of the ball.

Donovan Smith returns under center after accounting for over 3,200 total yards and 28 touchdowns last year. With the offense likely to lean on his dual-threat capabilities again, Houston’s scoring ceiling remains high, but major questions persist on defense. New defensive coordinator Shiel Wood aims to rebuild a unit that gave up nearly 35 points per game in 2024.

Houston opens the season with a non-conference test against UNLV before diving into a tough Big 12 slate that includes Utah, Kansas State, Iowa State, and TCU. Bowl eligibility is within reach, but it will require a step forward in the trenches and improved play on third downs,both areas where the Cougars struggled in 2024. 

Houston Cougars Point Spreads

The point spread bet is arguably the most popular traditional fixed wager. A point spread wager is a bet based on the margin of victory.

Let’s take a look at what a Cougars spread might look like and what it all means:

• Houston +9.5 (-110)
• Kansas State -9.5 ( -110)

If the Cougars lose this matchup 41-0, they lose this spread. If the Cougars were to cover this spread, they’d need a loss of nine (9) points or less or a win outright.

Houston Cougars Over/Unders

Another common pre-game fixed wager is the over/under bet.

Over/under bets, also known as totals, are wagers that deal with the combined points scored by both teams in a respective game.

Oddsmakers set the total at how many total points they think will be scored combined by both teams. So, let’s revisit the example above and say the over/under was set at 46.5.

If you took the under a 41-0 final would mean you have a winner because the total amount of points scored (41) was less than 46.5. If the total points scored combined at 47 or more, the over would have be the winning side.

Houston Cougars Moneylines

While point spread and total bets deal with point differentials and combined points, moneyline wagers are more straightforward. When you place a moneyline bet, you are simply picking who you think will win the game.

Houston defeating Cincinnati as a -300 favorite is fine, but a $30 bet pays out just $10. If you’re able to catch the Cougars as a +300 underdog, a $10 bet would win you $30. These bets are the easiest to understand when you think of them in $10 or $100 units.

Houston Cougars Futures

Instead of wagering on in-game bets like the moneyline or point spread, you can turn your focus towards futures. Futures are wagers that settle at a later time, usually at the end of the season. Examples of futures bets are picking a conference winner, over/unders on team wins, as well as picking a Heisman Trophy winner.The books are expecting another rebuilding year of sorts for Houston as their consensus odds of +11000 are the 15th highest among 16 teams in the Big 12. If you want to bet on something less risky, you can turn your attention towards their win total of 3.5.