2014–2026 performance history

Houston over time

Season-by-season offense and defense game grades, with head-coaching changes placed on the timeline.

Big 12Head coach: Willie FritzView Houston games →
Offense · 2026 estimate58.4/100

80.9 average through 1 game

55.2 prior · 8 equivalent games
Defense · 2026 estimate45.4/100

21.8 average through 1 game

48.6 prior · 8 equivalent games

The trajectory

Game and Season Unit Ratings

Each small dot is one offensive or defensive game rating, arranged in the order played. For completed seasons, the short bar is that season’s average game rating. Both dot and bar values are labeled on a percentile scale. For 2026, the bar is the Bayesian estimate, while the outlined circle is the empirical games-only mean. Labeled background bands show each head coach’s era.

Houston individual offense and defense game grades by seasonEach small point is one game. Horizontal bars show completed-season means and the Bayesian estimate for 2026. The outlined 2026 circle is the empirical games-only mean. Alternating labeled bands identify head-coaching eras.LevineTony Levine, 2014Herman · ’15–’16Tom Herman, 2015–2016Applewhite · ’17–’18Major Applewhite, 2017–2018Holgorsen · ’19–’23Dana Holgorsen, 2019–2023Fritz · ’24–’26Willie Fritz, 2024–2026offenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 1: Houston vs. UTSA · L 7–27; offense 0.3 percentile2014 Week 2: Houston vs. Grambling · W 47–0; offense 32.3 percentile2014 Week 3: Houston at BYU · L 25–33; offense 32.4 percentile2014 Week 4: Houston vs. UNLV · W 47–14; offense 75.6 percentile2014 Week 6: Houston vs. UCF · L 12–17; offense 45.3 percentile2014 Week 7: Houston at Memphis · W 28–24; offense 50.2 percentile2014 Week 8: Houston vs. Temple · W 31–10; offense 56.9 percentile2014 Week 10: Houston at South Florida · W 27–3; offense 54.9 percentile2014 Week 11: Houston vs. Tulane · L 24–31; offense 34.9 percentile2014 Week 13: Houston vs. Tulsa · W 38–28; offense 76.1 percentile2014 Week 14: Houston at SMU · W 35–9; offense 33.1 percentile2014 Week 15: Houston at Cincinnati · L 31–38; offense 83.2 percentile2014 Week 1: Houston vs. Pittsburgh · W 35–34; offense 88.1 percentile2015 Week 1: Houston vs. Tennessee Tech · W 52–24; offense 44.3 percentile2015 Week 2: Houston at Louisville · W 34–31; offense 80.2 percentile2015 Week 4: Houston vs. Texas State · W 59–14; offense 81.0 percentile2015 Week 5: Houston at Tulsa · W 38–24; offense 43.7 percentile2015 Week 6: Houston vs. SMU · W 49–28; offense 82.3 percentile2015 Week 7: Houston at Tulane · W 42–7; offense 56.8 percentile2015 Week 8: Houston at UCF · W 59–10; offense 90.2 percentile2015 Week 9: Houston vs. Vanderbilt · W 34–0; offense 46.5 percentile2015 Week 10: Houston vs. Cincinnati · W 33–30; offense 21.8 percentile2015 Week 11: Houston vs. Memphis · W 35–34; offense 58.0 percentile2015 Week 12: Houston at UConn · L 17–20; offense 29.5 percentile2015 Week 13: Houston vs. Navy · W 52–31; offense 93.4 percentile2015 Week 14: Houston vs. Temple · W 24–13; offense 84.7 percentile2015 Week 1: Houston vs. Florida State · W 38–24; offense 55.1 percentile2016 Week 1: Houston vs. Oklahoma · W 33–23; offense 36.4 percentile2016 Week 2: Houston vs. Lamar · W 42–0; offense 47.6 percentile2016 Week 3: Houston at Cincinnati · W 40–16; offense 51.1 percentile2016 Week 4: Houston at Texas State · W 64–3; offense 85.4 percentile2016 Week 5: Houston vs. UConn · W 42–14; offense 90.6 percentile2016 Week 6: Houston at Navy · L 40–46; offense 62.6 percentile2016 Week 7: Houston vs. Tulsa · W 38–31; offense 72.1 percentile2016 Week 8: Houston at SMU · L 16–38; offense 3.6 percentile2016 Week 9: Houston vs. UCF · W 31–24; offense 44.5 percentile2016 Week 11: Houston vs. Tulane · W 30–18; offense 10.3 percentile2016 Week 12: Houston vs. Louisville · W 36–10; offense 41.3 percentile2016 Week 13: Houston at Memphis · L 44–48; offense 85.6 percentile2016 Week 1: Houston vs. San Diego State · L 10–34; offense 12.1 percentile2017 Week 2: Houston at Arizona · W 19–16; offense 26.4 percentile2017 Week 3: Houston vs. Rice · W 38–3; offense 81.2 percentile2017 Week 4: Houston vs. Texas Tech · L 24–27; offense 9.1 percentile2017 Week 5: Houston at Temple · W 20–13; offense 45.9 percentile2017 Week 6: Houston vs. SMU · W 35–22; offense 78.4 percentile2017 Week 7: Houston at Tulsa · L 17–45; offense 8.7 percentile2017 Week 8: Houston vs. Memphis · L 38–42; offense 61.4 percentile2017 Week 9: Houston at South Florida · W 28–24; offense 56.4 percentile2017 Week 10: Houston vs. East Carolina · W 52–27; offense 85.9 percentile2017 Week 12: Houston at Tulane · L 17–20; offense 42.0 percentile2017 Week 13: Houston vs. Navy · W 24–14; offense 52.0 percentile2017 Week 1: Houston vs. Fresno State · L 27–33; offense 33.7 percentile2018 Week 1: Houston at Rice · W 45–27; offense 78.9 percentile2018 Week 2: Houston vs. Arizona · W 45–18; offense 72.3 percentile2018 Week 3: Houston at Texas Tech · L 49–63; offense 59.4 percentile2018 Week 4: Houston vs. Texas Southern · W 70–14; offense 74.6 percentile2018 Week 6: Houston vs. Tulsa · W 41–26; offense 79.9 percentile2018 Week 7: Houston at East Carolina · W 42–20; offense 42.0 percentile2018 Week 8: Houston at Navy · W 49–36; offense 96.4 percentile2018 Week 9: Houston vs. South Florida · W 57–36; offense 93.3 percentile2018 Week 10: Houston at SMU · L 31–45; offense 42.1 percentile2018 Week 11: Houston vs. Temple · L 49–59; offense 78.1 percentile2018 Week 12: Houston vs. Tulane · W 48–17; offense 83.3 percentile2018 Week 13: Houston at Memphis · L 31–52; offense 36.3 percentile2018 Week 1: Houston vs. Army · L 14–70; offense 19.2 percentile2019 Week 1: Houston at Oklahoma · L 31–49; offense 77.2 percentile2019 Week 2: Houston vs. Prairie View A&M · W 37–17; offense 42.1 percentile2019 Week 3: Houston vs. Washington State · L 24–31; offense 46.9 percentile2019 Week 4: Houston at Tulane · L 31–38; offense 86.6 percentile2019 Week 5: Houston at North Texas · W 46–25; offense 56.5 percentile2019 Week 7: Houston vs. Cincinnati · L 23–38; offense 77.3 percentile2019 Week 8: Houston at UConn · W 24–17; offense 15.2 percentile2019 Week 9: Houston vs. SMU · L 31–34; offense 36.6 percentile2019 Week 10: Houston at UCF · L 29–44; offense 61.7 percentile2019 Week 12: Houston vs. Memphis · L 27–45; offense 36.4 percentile2019 Week 13: Houston at Tulsa · W 24–14; offense 6.7 percentile2019 Week 14: Houston vs. Navy · L 41–56; offense 96.4 percentile2020 Week 6: Houston vs. Tulane · W 49–31; offense 87.0 percentile2020 Week 7: Houston vs. BYU · L 26–43; offense 64.2 percentile2020 Week 8: Houston at Navy · W 37–21; offense 56.6 percentile2020 Week 9: Houston vs. UCF · L 21–44; offense 41.6 percentile2020 Week 10: Houston at Cincinnati · L 10–38; offense 59.4 percentile2020 Week 11: Houston vs. South Florida · W 56–21; offense 75.5 percentile2020 Week 15: Houston at Memphis · L 27–30; offense 53.3 percentile2020 Week 1: Houston vs. Hawai'i · L 14–28; offense 7.9 percentile2021 Week 1: Houston vs. Texas Tech · L 21–38; offense 3.9 percentile2021 Week 2: Houston at Rice · W 44–7; offense 75.7 percentile2021 Week 3: Houston vs. Grambling · W 45–0; offense 16.2 percentile2021 Week 4: Houston vs. Navy · W 28–20; offense 62.4 percentile2021 Week 5: Houston at Tulsa · W 45–10; offense 65.4 percentile2021 Week 6: Houston at Tulane · W 40–22; offense 62.3 percentile2021 Week 8: Houston vs. East Carolina · W 31–24; offense 3.8 percentile2021 Week 9: Houston vs. SMU · W 44–37; offense 53.2 percentile2021 Week 10: Houston at South Florida · W 54–42; offense 73.3 percentile2021 Week 11: Houston at Temple · W 37–8; offense 23.1 percentile2021 Week 12: Houston vs. Memphis · W 31–13; offense 70.9 percentile2021 Week 13: Houston at UConn · W 45–17; offense 76.9 percentile2021 Week 14: Houston at Cincinnati · L 20–35; offense 46.0 percentile2021 Week 1: Houston vs. Auburn · W 17–13; offense 58.4 percentile2022 Week 1: Houston at UTSA · W 37–35; offense 72.4 percentile2022 Week 2: Houston at Texas Tech · L 30–33; offense 26.7 percentile2022 Week 3: Houston vs. Kansas · L 30–48; offense 39.6 percentile2022 Week 4: Houston vs. Rice · W 34–27; offense 53.4 percentile2022 Week 5: Houston vs. Tulane · L 24–27; offense 62.3 percentile2022 Week 6: Houston at Memphis · W 33–32; offense 50.6 percentile2022 Week 8: Houston at Navy · W 38–20; offense 96.4 percentile2022 Week 9: Houston vs. South Florida · W 42–27; offense 84.6 percentile2022 Week 10: Houston at SMU · L 63–77; offense 98.8 percentile2022 Week 11: Houston vs. Temple · W 43–36; offense 95.6 percentile2022 Week 12: Houston at East Carolina · W 42–3; offense 87.8 percentile2022 Week 13: Houston vs. Tulsa · L 30–37; offense 29.9 percentile2022 Week 1: Houston vs. Louisiana · W 23–16; offense 51.7 percentile2023 Week 1: Houston vs. UTSA · W 17–14; offense 18.5 percentile2023 Week 2: Houston at Rice · L 41–43; offense 82.1 percentile2023 Week 3: Houston vs. TCU · L 13–36; offense 0.8 percentile2023 Week 4: Houston vs. Sam Houston · W 38–7; offense 82.6 percentile2023 Week 5: Houston at Texas Tech · L 28–49; offense 86.0 percentile2023 Week 7: Houston vs. West Virginia · W 41–39; offense 74.1 percentile2023 Week 8: Houston vs. Texas · L 24–31; offense 49.3 percentile2023 Week 9: Houston at Kansas State · L 0–41; offense 9.5 percentile2023 Week 11: Houston vs. Cincinnati · L 14–24; offense 14.3 percentile2023 Week 12: Houston vs. Oklahoma State · L 30–43; offense 43.5 percentile2023 Week 13: Houston at UCF · L 13–27; offense 12.4 percentile2024 Week 1: Houston vs. UNLV · L 7–27; offense 9.1 percentile2024 Week 2: Houston at Oklahoma · L 12–16; offense 33.4 percentile2024 Week 3: Houston vs. Rice · W 33–7; offense 46.6 percentile2024 Week 4: Houston at Cincinnati · L 0–34; offense 5.7 percentile2024 Week 5: Houston vs. Iowa State · L 0–20; offense 8.8 percentile2024 Week 6: Houston at TCU · W 30–19; offense 61.0 percentile2024 Week 8: Houston vs. Kansas · L 14–42; offense 30.7 percentile2024 Week 10: Houston vs. Kansas State · W 24–19; offense 19.3 percentile2024 Week 12: Houston at Arizona · L 3–27; offense 2.5 percentile2024 Week 13: Houston vs. Baylor · L 10–20; offense 12.6 percentile2024 Week 14: Houston at BYU · L 18–30; offense 43.7 percentile2025 Week 1: Houston vs. Stephen F. Austin · W 27–0; offense 3.5 percentile2025 Week 2: Houston at Rice · W 35–9; offense 42.4 percentile2025 Week 3: Houston vs. Colorado · W 36–20; offense 47.6 percentile2025 Week 6: Houston vs. Texas Tech · L 11–35; offense 57.0 percentile2025 Week 7: Houston at Oklahoma State · W 39–17; offense 39.7 percentile2025 Week 8: Houston vs. Arizona · W 31–28; offense 94.7 percentile2025 Week 9: Houston at Arizona State · W 24–16; offense 63.8 percentile2025 Week 10: Houston vs. West Virginia · L 35–45; offense 59.0 percentile2025 Week 11: Houston at UCF · W 30–27; offense 77.9 percentile2025 Week 13: Houston vs. TCU · L 14–17; offense 31.8 percentile2025 Week 14: Houston at Baylor · W 31–24; offense 52.7 percentile2025 Week 1: Houston vs. LSU · W 38–35; offense 87.5 percentile2026 Week 1: Houston vs. Oregon State · W 33–20; offense 80.9 percentile2014 offense season mean: 47.7 percentile2015 offense season mean: 64.7 percentile2016 offense season mean: 48.1 percentile2017 offense season mean: 47.3 percentile2018 offense season mean: 69.3 percentile2019 offense season mean: 54.5 percentile2020 offense season mean: 55.2 percentile2021 offense season mean: 45.9 percentile2022 offense season mean: 72.0 percentile2023 offense season mean: 37.7 percentile2024 offense season mean: 20.3 percentile2025 offense season mean: 55.2 percentile2026 offense Bayesian estimate: 58.4 percentile2026 offense empirical mean: 80.9 percentiledefenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 1: Houston vs. UTSA · L 7–27; defense 45.1 percentile2014 Week 2: Houston vs. Grambling · W 47–0; defense 63.9 percentile2014 Week 3: Houston at BYU · L 25–33; defense 24.6 percentile2014 Week 4: Houston vs. UNLV · W 47–14; defense 70.9 percentile2014 Week 6: Houston vs. UCF · L 12–17; defense 68.4 percentile2014 Week 7: Houston at Memphis · W 28–24; defense 77.3 percentile2014 Week 8: Houston vs. Temple · W 31–10; defense 41.6 percentile2014 Week 10: Houston at South Florida · W 27–3; defense 69.3 percentile2014 Week 11: Houston vs. Tulane · L 24–31; defense 20.5 percentile2014 Week 13: Houston vs. Tulsa · W 38–28; defense 12.4 percentile2014 Week 14: Houston at SMU · W 35–9; defense 82.6 percentile2014 Week 15: Houston at Cincinnati · L 31–38; defense 30.8 percentile2014 Week 1: Houston vs. Pittsburgh · W 35–34; defense 21.5 percentile2015 Week 1: Houston vs. Tennessee Tech · W 52–24; defense 52.2 percentile2015 Week 2: Houston at Louisville · W 34–31; defense 53.8 percentile2015 Week 4: Houston vs. Texas State · W 59–14; defense 55.3 percentile2015 Week 5: Houston at Tulsa · W 38–24; defense 80.9 percentile2015 Week 6: Houston vs. SMU · W 49–28; defense 30.5 percentile2015 Week 7: Houston at Tulane · W 42–7; defense 76.5 percentile2015 Week 8: Houston at UCF · W 59–10; defense 30.5 percentile2015 Week 9: Houston vs. Vanderbilt · W 34–0; defense 66.4 percentile2015 Week 10: Houston vs. Cincinnati · W 33–30; defense 28.8 percentile2015 Week 11: Houston vs. Memphis · W 35–34; defense 39.7 percentile2015 Week 12: Houston at UConn · L 17–20; defense 66.5 percentile2015 Week 13: Houston vs. Navy · W 52–31; defense 42.0 percentile2015 Week 14: Houston vs. Temple · W 24–13; defense 61.8 percentile2015 Week 1: Houston vs. Florida State · W 38–24; defense 89.0 percentile2016 Week 1: Houston vs. Oklahoma · W 33–23; defense 86.1 percentile2016 Week 2: Houston vs. Lamar · W 42–0; defense 92.0 percentile2016 Week 3: Houston at Cincinnati · W 40–16; defense 71.7 percentile2016 Week 4: Houston at Texas State · W 64–3; defense 92.6 percentile2016 Week 5: Houston vs. UConn · W 42–14; defense 62.3 percentile2016 Week 6: Houston at Navy · L 40–46; defense 81.9 percentile2016 Week 7: Houston vs. Tulsa · W 38–31; defense 66.7 percentile2016 Week 8: Houston at SMU · L 16–38; defense 57.1 percentile2016 Week 9: Houston vs. UCF · W 31–24; defense 84.8 percentile2016 Week 11: Houston vs. Tulane · W 30–18; defense 75.8 percentile2016 Week 12: Houston vs. Louisville · W 36–10; defense 85.8 percentile2016 Week 13: Houston at Memphis · L 44–48; defense 25.2 percentile2016 Week 1: Houston vs. San Diego State · L 10–34; defense 97.0 percentile2017 Week 2: Houston at Arizona · W 19–16; defense 94.5 percentile2017 Week 3: Houston vs. Rice · W 38–3; defense 94.8 percentile2017 Week 4: Houston vs. Texas Tech · L 24–27; defense 64.4 percentile2017 Week 5: Houston at Temple · W 20–13; defense 76.5 percentile2017 Week 6: Houston vs. SMU · W 35–22; defense 41.8 percentile2017 Week 7: Houston at Tulsa · L 17–45; defense 22.8 percentile2017 Week 8: Houston vs. Memphis · L 38–42; defense 80.2 percentile2017 Week 9: Houston at South Florida · W 28–24; defense 97.0 percentile2017 Week 10: Houston vs. East Carolina · W 52–27; defense 57.7 percentile2017 Week 12: Houston at Tulane · L 17–20; defense 50.0 percentile2017 Week 13: Houston vs. Navy · W 24–14; defense 90.8 percentile2017 Week 1: Houston vs. Fresno State · L 27–33; defense 55.3 percentile2018 Week 1: Houston at Rice · W 45–27; defense 48.3 percentile2018 Week 2: Houston vs. Arizona · W 45–18; defense 81.6 percentile2018 Week 3: Houston at Texas Tech · L 49–63; defense 32.6 percentile2018 Week 4: Houston vs. Texas Southern · W 70–14; defense 67.1 percentile2018 Week 6: Houston vs. Tulsa · W 41–26; defense 53.9 percentile2018 Week 7: Houston at East Carolina · W 42–20; defense 88.5 percentile2018 Week 8: Houston at Navy · W 49–36; defense 18.4 percentile2018 Week 9: Houston vs. South Florida · W 57–36; defense 12.7 percentile2018 Week 10: Houston at SMU · L 31–45; defense 17.3 percentile2018 Week 11: Houston vs. Temple · L 49–59; defense 6.1 percentile2018 Week 12: Houston vs. Tulane · W 48–17; defense 41.2 percentile2018 Week 13: Houston at Memphis · L 31–52; defense 33.3 percentile2018 Week 1: Houston vs. Army · L 14–70; defense 0.2 percentile2019 Week 1: Houston at Oklahoma · L 31–49; defense 13.6 percentile2019 Week 2: Houston vs. Prairie View A&M · W 37–17; defense 45.2 percentile2019 Week 3: Houston vs. Washington State · L 24–31; defense 58.5 percentile2019 Week 4: Houston at Tulane · L 31–38; defense 19.6 percentile2019 Week 5: Houston at North Texas · W 46–25; defense 84.3 percentile2019 Week 7: Houston vs. Cincinnati · L 23–38; defense 40.7 percentile2019 Week 8: Houston at UConn · W 24–17; defense 57.0 percentile2019 Week 9: Houston vs. SMU · L 31–34; defense 76.9 percentile2019 Week 10: Houston at UCF · L 29–44; defense 44.4 percentile2019 Week 12: Houston vs. Memphis · L 27–45; defense 15.6 percentile2019 Week 13: Houston at Tulsa · W 24–14; defense 85.2 percentile2019 Week 14: Houston vs. Navy · L 41–56; defense 7.9 percentile2020 Week 6: Houston vs. Tulane · W 49–31; defense 97.8 percentile2020 Week 7: Houston vs. BYU · L 26–43; defense 69.7 percentile2020 Week 8: Houston at Navy · W 37–21; defense 47.6 percentile2020 Week 9: Houston vs. UCF · L 21–44; defense 11.5 percentile2020 Week 10: Houston at Cincinnati · L 10–38; defense 11.4 percentile2020 Week 11: Houston vs. South Florida · W 56–21; defense 74.6 percentile2020 Week 15: Houston at Memphis · L 27–30; defense 76.4 percentile2020 Week 1: Houston vs. Hawai'i · L 14–28; defense 87.3 percentile2021 Week 1: Houston vs. Texas Tech · L 21–38; defense 39.1 percentile2021 Week 2: Houston at Rice · W 44–7; defense 54.1 percentile2021 Week 3: Houston vs. Grambling · W 45–0; defense 90.7 percentile2021 Week 4: Houston vs. Navy · W 28–20; defense 55.9 percentile2021 Week 5: Houston at Tulsa · W 45–10; defense 98.4 percentile2021 Week 6: Houston at Tulane · W 40–22; defense 74.4 percentile2021 Week 8: Houston vs. East Carolina · W 31–24; defense 90.9 percentile2021 Week 9: Houston vs. SMU · W 44–37; defense 63.0 percentile2021 Week 10: Houston at South Florida · W 54–42; defense 32.1 percentile2021 Week 11: Houston at Temple · W 37–8; defense 66.1 percentile2021 Week 12: Houston vs. Memphis · W 31–13; defense 87.5 percentile2021 Week 13: Houston at UConn · W 45–17; defense 72.1 percentile2021 Week 14: Houston at Cincinnati · L 20–35; defense 47.1 percentile2021 Week 1: Houston vs. Auburn · W 17–13; defense 89.6 percentile2022 Week 1: Houston at UTSA · W 37–35; defense 72.4 percentile2022 Week 2: Houston at Texas Tech · L 30–33; defense 79.3 percentile2022 Week 3: Houston vs. Kansas · L 30–48; defense 27.9 percentile2022 Week 4: Houston vs. Rice · W 34–27; defense 36.7 percentile2022 Week 5: Houston vs. Tulane · L 24–27; defense 88.5 percentile2022 Week 6: Houston at Memphis · W 33–32; defense 56.7 percentile2022 Week 8: Houston at Navy · W 38–20; defense 57.7 percentile2022 Week 9: Houston vs. South Florida · W 42–27; defense 49.3 percentile2022 Week 10: Houston at SMU · L 63–77; defense 9.6 percentile2022 Week 11: Houston vs. Temple · W 43–36; defense 28.2 percentile2022 Week 12: Houston at East Carolina · W 42–3; defense 98.6 percentile2022 Week 13: Houston vs. Tulsa · L 30–37; defense 53.5 percentile2022 Week 1: Houston vs. Louisiana · W 23–16; defense 83.1 percentile2023 Week 1: Houston vs. UTSA · W 17–14; defense 78.5 percentile2023 Week 2: Houston at Rice · L 41–43; defense 26.5 percentile2023 Week 3: Houston vs. TCU · L 13–36; defense 40.7 percentile2023 Week 4: Houston vs. Sam Houston · W 38–7; defense 84.4 percentile2023 Week 5: Houston at Texas Tech · L 28–49; defense 19.6 percentile2023 Week 7: Houston vs. West Virginia · W 41–39; defense 33.7 percentile2023 Week 8: Houston vs. Texas · L 24–31; defense 46.2 percentile2023 Week 9: Houston at Kansas State · L 0–41; defense 39.8 percentile2023 Week 11: Houston vs. Cincinnati · L 14–24; defense 38.3 percentile2023 Week 12: Houston vs. Oklahoma State · L 30–43; defense 21.1 percentile2023 Week 13: Houston at UCF · L 13–27; defense 30.7 percentile2024 Week 1: Houston vs. UNLV · L 7–27; defense 67.9 percentile2024 Week 2: Houston at Oklahoma · L 12–16; defense 77.7 percentile2024 Week 3: Houston vs. Rice · W 33–7; defense 96.3 percentile2024 Week 4: Houston at Cincinnati · L 0–34; defense 28.3 percentile2024 Week 5: Houston vs. Iowa State · L 0–20; defense 56.4 percentile2024 Week 6: Houston at TCU · W 30–19; defense 90.4 percentile2024 Week 8: Houston vs. Kansas · L 14–42; defense 4.2 percentile2024 Week 10: Houston vs. Kansas State · W 24–19; defense 96.1 percentile2024 Week 12: Houston at Arizona · L 3–27; defense 49.7 percentile2024 Week 13: Houston vs. Baylor · L 10–20; defense 87.1 percentile2024 Week 14: Houston at BYU · L 18–30; defense 42.5 percentile2025 Week 1: Houston vs. Stephen F. Austin · W 27–0; defense 83.1 percentile2025 Week 2: Houston at Rice · W 35–9; defense 81.5 percentile2025 Week 3: Houston vs. Colorado · W 36–20; defense 75.3 percentile2025 Week 6: Houston vs. Texas Tech · L 11–35; defense 34.8 percentile2025 Week 7: Houston at Oklahoma State · W 39–17; defense 81.3 percentile2025 Week 8: Houston vs. Arizona · W 31–28; defense 27.7 percentile2025 Week 9: Houston at Arizona State · W 24–16; defense 37.2 percentile2025 Week 10: Houston vs. West Virginia · L 35–45; defense 4.5 percentile2025 Week 11: Houston at UCF · W 30–27; defense 49.7 percentile2025 Week 13: Houston vs. TCU · L 14–17; defense 48.2 percentile2025 Week 14: Houston at Baylor · W 31–24; defense 54.6 percentile2025 Week 1: Houston vs. LSU · W 38–35; defense 18.4 percentile2026 Week 1: Houston vs. Oregon State · W 33–20; defense 21.8 percentile2014 defense season mean: 47.8 percentile2015 defense season mean: 56.3 percentile2016 defense season mean: 78.7 percentile2017 defense season mean: 74.1 percentile2018 defense season mean: 32.6 percentile2019 defense season mean: 44.4 percentile2020 defense season mean: 62.6 percentile2021 defense season mean: 73.2 percentile2022 defense season mean: 60.3 percentile2023 defense season mean: 41.7 percentile2024 defense season mean: 67.2 percentile2025 defense season mean: 48.6 percentile2026 defense Bayesian estimate: 45.4 percentile2026 defense empirical mean: 21.8 percentile2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Individual gameSeason bar · 2026 is the estimate2026 empirical meanCoaching-era band
2014Tony Levine / David Gibbs
2015Tom Herman
2016Tom Herman / Major Applewhite
2017Major Applewhite
2019Dana Holgorsen
2024Willie Fritz / Dana Holgorsen

How to read 2026

The current-season estimate intelligently blends last season with new data.

The 2026 estimate is a Bayesian weighted average of normal-score Z-values. The 2025 season mean counts like 8 games of prior evidence; each completed 2026 game counts once. The result is then translated back to the 0–100 percentile scale.

2026 Z = (8 × 2025 mean Z + games played × 2026 mean Z) ÷ (8 + games played)

Season record

Every annual grade and coach

Retrospective rows average the available single-game grades in normal-score space. The result is shown as a percentile. Roughly speaking, a 95th-percentile season corresponds to about the eighth-best team in a 160-team field.

SeasonHead coachGamesOffenseDefense
2026Live estimateWillie Fritz1
58.4 estimate80.9 games-only average
45.4 estimate21.8 games-only average
2025Willie Fritz1255.248.6
2024Willie Fritz / Dana HolgorsenCoaching change1120.367.2
2023Dana Holgorsen1137.741.7
2022Dana Holgorsen1372.060.3
2021Dana Holgorsen1445.973.2
2020Dana Holgorsen855.262.6
2019Dana HolgorsenCoaching change1254.544.4
2018Major Applewhite1369.332.6
2017Major ApplewhiteCoaching change1247.374.1
2016Tom Herman / Major ApplewhiteCoaching change1348.178.7
2015Tom HermanCoaching change1464.756.3
2014Tony Levine / David GibbsCoaching change1347.747.8