Houston Cougars Are the Most Boring Team in America, and That’s Working

The Cincinnati Bearcats football team is entering a spoiler role in the Big 12 Championship race for the rest of this season.

Cincinnati takes on No. 17 Houston (6-2 overall, 3-2 in Big 12) Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

The loss to Utah basically ended all of Cincinnati's top goals, as they cannot mathematically make it to the Big 12 Championship game anymore (0% chance on ESPN's FPI).

But they still need one more win to get that important bowl-game check at the end of the season.

UC is looking for its first road win of the season Saturday, entering the game with a 16% chance to win on ESPN's Matchup Predictor.

ESPN's FPI has Cincinnati ranked 52nd and Houston 20th, while SP+ has Cincinnati ranked 52nd as well to Houston's 26th slotting.

Cincinnati is a 10.5-point underdog on DraftKings Sportsbook with a point total set at 62.5.

“Look at everybody right now, where they're sitting in the league and throughout the country, there are four games left,” UC head coach Scott Satterfield said about moving on from the 49-25 Utah loss.

“There's a lot of ball left. You start doing that, focusing on that, you'll let these games just slide by. And so we have to do a great job of focusing on this week, today, Tuesday practice, and doing everything we can to be the best we can be today.”

“And I think the teams that do that the best over this next month is going to be the teams when they look back at their record and think man, okay, this team they were focused. They did a great job, and the other teams maybe not. That's what we have to guard against.”

The all-time series between Cincinnati and Houston is tied at 15-15, with UC having won the last five meetings.

EXPECT PLENTY OF POINTS

Expect plenty of points between teams that have pretty similar profiles this season.

Houston is sporting the 119th-ranked defense in EPA/play allowed this season, and Cincinnati isn't much better at 102nd.

While the offenses are both top 30 in that metric on the other side (Cincinnati at 30th, Houston at 13th).

Cincinnati's 95th-ranked EPA/pass defense is going to have its hands completely full with veteran passer Conner Weigman.

He's posted 20 touchdowns and two interceptions through the air this season to round out a nasty 83.4 QBR (seventh nationally).

“We play some really good quarterbacks in this league. They're all a little bit different, I think, as you look at them,” Satterfield said.

“Weigman does everything really, really well.”

THE MOST BORING TEAM IN AMERICA

Practice wraps up Wednesday morning, and Shane Meyer, director of operations for the University of Houston football program, reminds the team about curfew.

They all cheer.

Meet the No. 17 team in the College Football Playoff rankings.

It's a bring-your-lunch-pail, put-on-your-hard-hat group that has adopted the personality of its 66-year-old head coach.

Nothing flashy. Old school. No drama.

The most excitement comes when the ice cream truck shows up every Tuesday after a victory.

Just call them The Most Boring Team in America.

And that's a compliment.

Entering the final month of the season, the Cougars (6-2, 3-2 Big 12) are on pace for consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time in the program's 80-year history.

There's still a path to the Big 12 championship game, although they'll need to win their remaining four games and get some help.

Yet there the Cougars were Tuesday night, sitting at their highest CFP ranking in school history, just a few spots behind name brands such as Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee and LSU.

For all the talk about the Cougars being overlooked, the results are hard to ignore.

UH has won 16 games over the past two seasons, tied with Texas for the second-most among the state's Power Four programs.

Texas Tech leads with 19.

While UH goes about its business, there's been no shortage of distractions around the state.

Texas can't figure out whether it's back, or whether Arch Manning should sit or play.

Texas A&M fans are ready to write a check to send Mike Elko packing.

Texas Tech was a soap opera this summer.

Then there's billionaire board of regents chairman Cody Campbell, who can't stop talking - or posting on social media.

Does anybody even talk about SMU?

Baylor finally fired coach Dave Aranda.

A similar fate appears on the horizon for Sonny Dykes at TCU.

Then there's Houston.

They've done more with less, operating with fewer revenue-share resources than some of the nation's deep-pocketed programs.

No quarterback controversy. No ridiculous comments from former coach Dana Holgorsen that the "ship has sailed" on recruiting or complaining about an "impossible buyout."

No weekly referendum on the direction of the program.

No craving for the spotlight.

No coach with one eye on his next job.

No viral moments.

Willie Fritz likes it that way.

TWO HIGH-SCORING TEAMS

Two high-scoring teams looking to rebound from a loss to a highly ranked contender square off when Cincinnati visits No. 17 Houston for a Big 12 matchup Saturday afternoon.

Both teams are coming off losses to No. 3 Utah.

Houston (6-2, 3-2) is returning from a bye, losing the previous week to the Utes, 21-13, in Salt Lake City.