The 2013 Houston Cougars football team represented the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

in the

2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 29, 2013 and ended on Dece ...

. It was the 68th year of season play for Houston. The season marked the first for the Cougars as a member of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. Due to construction of the new

TDECU Stadium John O'Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium is an American football stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. The stadium serves as the home of the Houston Cougars football team, which represents the University of Houston in collegiate ...

during the 2013 season, the team played its home games at other locations in Houston. The season featured the Cougars’ continued

Bayou Bucket Classic In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

rivalry with the

Rice Owls Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of Conference USA, Rice sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanctio ...

. The game again became a battle due to the departure from Conference USA for the Cougars following the 2012 season. The previous time the two teams met as non-conference foes was during the 2004 season when the Rice Owls was a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The 2013 Bayou Bucket Classic was played at Reliant Stadium. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in American Athletic play to finish in fourth place. They were invited to the

BBVA Compass Bowl The Birmingham Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the l ...

where they were defeated by Vanderbilt.

Previous season

With a 5–7 overall record, the 2012 season was a step backward for the program, as it compiled only its second losing season since 2005. The team suffered an early season humiliating loss against Texas State in Houston's season opener, and offensive coordinator Mike Nesbitt was forced to resign after only one game. First year head coach Tony Levine promoted Travis Bush to fill the position. It was the final season that the team would play its home games at the on-campus Robertson Stadium, as it was closed and demolished soon after the season finished.

Preseason

Recruits

For the 2013 recruiting class, Houston attained its highest overall class ranking since 2010, and its second-highest ranking ever by

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. However,

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only gave Houston its seventh-best overall ranking.

Schedule

2013 Houston Cougars football schedule
, Houston Athletics, Retrieved March 6, 2013

Coaching staff

Game summaries

UTSA

Source: ----

BYU

Sources:

Poll rankings

References

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Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Houston Cougars football seasons

Houston Cougars football The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH" (spoken as "U of H"). The UH football program is a member of the Big 1 ...