The Houston–Tulsa football rivalry is a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

game between

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 ...

and

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

Series history

Since 2014, both schools have been members 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) ...

. They previously competed together in

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

from 2005–12 and the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

from 1951–59, as well as playing regularly while Houston was independent (1960–75). The rivalry was particularly heated during the Conference USA period, when the two teams dominated the C-USA West Division. Tulsa won the division title in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2012, while Houston won in 2006, 2009, and 2011. SMU in 2010 was the only other team to win the title during this period. An infamous game in the rivalry occurred on November 23, 1968, when Tulsa traveled to the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

despite the fact that most of the team, including 15 of 22 starters, was sick with the flu. Houston, which already boasted the nation's top scoring offense coming into the game, proceeded to win 100–6 after scoring 76 unanswered points in the second half. As of 2022, Houston remains the most recent NCAA Division I team to score 100 points in a game. Tulsa is Houston's most played opponent in football, while Houston is Tulsa's third-most played active opponent. Houston announced that they will join the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

on July 1, 2023, putting the future of the rivalry in doubt.

Game results

Rankings are from the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and br ...

released prior to the game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston-Tulsa football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States Houston Cougars football Tulsa Golden Hurricane football

Series history

Game results

See also

References