Houston defeated Air Force in the 2008 Armed Forces Bowl , to end their eight bowl game losing streak.[ 1]
The Houston Cougars college football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing the University of Houston in the Big 12 Conference . Since the establishment of the team in 1946, Houston has appeared in 30 bowl games . The latest bowl occurred on December 23, 2022, when Houston defeated Louisiana in the 2022 Independence Bowl , which brought the Cougars' overall bowl record to thirteen wins, sixteen losses, and one tie (13–16–1).
Key
General
†
Bowl game record attendance
‡
Former bowl game record attendance
Results
W
Win
L
Loss
T
Tie
Bowl games
List of bowl games showing bowl played in, score, date, season, opponent, stadium, location, attendance and head coach[ A 1]
#
Bowl
Score[ A 2]
Date
Season[ A 3]
Opponent[ A 4]
Stadium
Location
Attendance[ 2]
Head coach
1
Salad Bowl
W 26–21
January 1, 1952
1951
Dayton Flyers
Montgomery Stadium
Phoenix
17,000
Clyde Lee
2
Tangerine Bowl
W 49–21
December 22, 1962
1962
Miami Redskins
Tangerine Bowl
Orlando
7,500
Bill Yeoman
3
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
W 37–7
December 31, 1969
1969
Auburn Tigers
Astrodome
Houston
55,203
4
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
L 17–29
December 31, 1971
1971
Colorado Buffaloes
Astrodome
Houston
54,720
5
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
W 47–7
December 29, 1973
1973
Tulane Green Wave
Astrodome
Houston
44,358
6
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
T 31–31
December 23, 1974
1974
NC State Wolfpack
Astrodome
Houston
35,122
7
Cotton Bowl Classic
W 30–21
January 1, 1977
1976
Maryland Terrapins
Cotton Bowl
Dallas
54,500
8
Cotton Bowl Classic
L 34–35
January 1, 1979
1978
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Cotton Bowl
Dallas
76,601 ‡
9
Cotton Bowl Classic
W 17–14
January 1, 1980
1979
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Cotton Bowl
Dallas
72,032
10
Garden State Bowl
W 35–0
December 14, 1980
1980
Navy Midshipmen
Giants Stadium
East Rutherford
41,417
11
Sun Bowl
L 14–40
December 26, 1981
1981
Oklahoma Sooners
Sun Bowl Stadium
El Paso
33,816
12
Cotton Bowl Classic
L 28–45
January 1, 1985
1984
Boston College Eagles
Cotton Bowl
Dallas
56,522
13
Aloha Bowl
L 22–24
December 25, 1988
1988
Washington State Cougars
Aloha Stadium
Honolulu
35,132
Jack Pardee
14
Liberty Bowl
L 17–30
December 27, 1996
1996
Syracuse Orangemen
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Memphis
49,163
Kim Helton
15
Hawaiʻi Bowl
L 48–54
December 25, 2003
2003
Hawaii Warriors
Aloha Stadium
Honolulu
29,005
Art Briles
16
Fort Worth Bowl
L 13–42
December 23, 2005
2005
Kansas Jayhawks
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Fort Worth
33,505
17
Liberty Bowl
L 36–44
December 29, 2006
2006
South Carolina Gamecocks
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Memphis
56,103
18
Texas Bowl
L 13–20
December 28, 2007
2007
TCU Horned Frogs
Reliant Stadium
Houston
62,097 ‡
Chris Thurmond [ A 5]
19
Armed Forces Bowl
W 34–28
December 31, 2008
2008
Air Force Falcons
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Fort Worth
41,127
Kevin Sumlin
20
Armed Forces Bowl
L 20–47
December 31, 2009
2009
Air Force Falcons
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Fort Worth
41,414
21
TicketCity Bowl
W 30–14
January 2, 2012
2011
Penn State Nittany Lions
Cotton Bowl
Dallas
46,817
Tony Levine
22
BBVA Compass Bowl
L 24–41
January 4, 2014
2013
Vanderbilt Commodores
Legion Field
Birmingham
42,717
23
Armed Forces Bowl
W 35–34
January 2, 2015
2014
Pittsburgh Panthers
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Fort Worth
37,888
David Gibbs [ A 6]
24
Peach Bowl
W 38–24
December 31, 2015
2015
Florida State Seminoles
Georgia Dome
Atlanta
71,007
Tom Herman
25
Las Vegas Bowl
L 10–34
December 17, 2016
2016
San Diego State Aztecs
Sam Boyd Stadium
Las Vegas
29,286
Major Applewhite
26
Hawaiʻi Bowl
L 27–33
December 24, 2017
2017
Fresno State Bulldogs
Aloha Stadium
Honolulu
20,546
27
Armed Forces Bowl
L 14–70
December 22, 2018
2018
Army Black Knights
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Fort Worth
44,738
28
New Mexico Bowl
L 14–28
December 24, 2020
2020
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Toyota Stadium
Frisco
2,060
Dana Holgorsen
29
Birmingham Bowl
W 17–13
December 28, 2021
2021
Auburn Tigers
Protective Stadium
Birmingham
47,100
30
Independence Bowl
W 23–16
December 23, 2022
2022
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Independence Stadium
Shreveport
23,410
Notes
^ Statistics correct as of 2022–23 NCAA football bowl games .
^ Results are sortable first by whether the result was a Houston win, loss or tie and then second by the margin of victory .
^ Links to the season article for the Houston team that competed in the bowl for that year.
^ Links to the season article for the opponent that Houston competed against in the bowl for that year when available or to their general page when unavailable.
^ Chris Thurmond served as interim head coach for the 2007 Texas Bowl after Art Briles resigned his position to take the head coach position with the Baylor Bears .[ 3]
^ David Gibbs served as interim head coach for the 2015 Armed Forces Bowl after Tony Levine was fired from his position as head coach.[ 4]
References General
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "Bowl/All-Star Game Records" (PDF) . 2011 NCAA Division I Football Records . NCAA.org. Retrieved December 13, 2011 .
Specific
^ "Houston gets first bowl win since 1980" . ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 31, 2008. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2011 .
^ Bowl/All-Star Game Records, pp. 32–38
^ "Thurmond named interim coach after Briles bolts for Baylor" . ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 28, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2011 .
^ Cooper, Nakia (December 8, 2014). "Tony Levine relieved of UH head coaching duties; David Gibbs to serve as interim" . KPRC-TV . Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015 .
Venues Bowls and rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons