HOUSTON --- Five teams from the State of Texas, five 2009 bowl participants, three schools from the BCS Automatic Qualifying Conferences and two nationally-televised Friday night home contests highlight the 2010 Houston Cougars Football Schedule that was released on Tuesday by the Conference USA office in Irving.

“First of all, I think this is a great home schedule for our fans,” UH head coach Kevin Sumlin said. “Second, we have two nationally televised league games at Robertson Stadium, which will show how competitive Conference USA is and give us some national exposure in the process. Finally, we will be stepping out of conference to play opponents from the Big 12, Pac 10 and the SEC.

“I think all these factors provide a challenging schedule for us as a program, and a rewarding one for our fans.”

“We are extremely excited about the upcoming season and the 2010 football schedule,” UH Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades said. “Our University and football program will have the opportunity to showcase itself on national television versus two very good opponents. We think these two Friday night games have the opportunity to be terrific special events for our campus, the Houston community and our fans.

“This schedule will not only provide national exposure, but will also challenge our program by playing three BCS institutions and five teams that played in bowl games last season. We also hope to be in a position that our game versus Texas Tech could be televised as well.

“I think our fans will truly enjoy our six home games and the accompanying game-day environment.”

Fresh off a 10-4 campaign in 2009 that included three wins over three BCS AQ schools and a rise in the national rankings to as high as No. 12, the Cougars are set to square off against Lone Star State foes Texas State on Sept. 4 in the season opener, then an ESPN national television match-up with league opponent UTEP on Sept. 10.
Houston will have in-state trips to Rice on Oct. 16–which is the 34th meeting for the rights to the Bayou Bucket trophy–and upstart SMU on Oct. 23 in Dallas. The Mustangs are coming off a 45-10 win over Nevada in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl…their first bowl appearance in 25 years.

The Cougars round out the regular season with a high-powered tussle in Lubbock with Texas Tech. The Cougars make their first trip to Lubbock since 1992, in a late-season affair that matches two of the nation's top offenses.

Last season, Houston won a thrilling 29-28 contest over Texas Tech at Robertson Stadium in the first meeting in 14 years between the former Southwest Conference rivals. Texas Tech finished the year at 9-4 and knocked off Michigan State, 41-31, in the Valero Alamo Bowl.

The Cougars road slate begins with a visit to California to take on UCLA on Sept. 18. The early season trip to the Rose Bowl to face the Bruins marks the first meeting between UH and UCLA in 12 years, and the first visit to the Rose Bowl since the 1997 season. UCLA finished 7-6 this past season, including a 30-21 win over Temple in the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C. The Cougars are 2-2 all-time versus the Bruins.

After the visit to the Golden State, Houston returns home for a West Division showdown with Tulane on Sept. 25. The Cougars–44-16 winners over the Green Wave in New Orleans in 2009–look to extend their winning streak to seven straight against Tulane.

The Cougars’ lone open date comes the first weekend of October, and then UH returns to Robertson Stadium for a non-conference clash with the SEC’s Mississippi State. The Bulldogs visit Houston for the first time since 2003, and the Cougars look to win their fourth straight over Mississippi State after knocking off the Bulldogs, 31-24, this past season in Starkville.
The Bulldogs finished 5-7 in Dan Mullen's first year as head coach; however, three of their five victories were against teams that reached bowl games at the end of the 2009 campaign (Middle Tennessee, Kentucky and Ole Miss.)
A visit to Memphis on Oct. 30 caps a three-game road trek (Rice on Oct. 16 and SMU on Oct. 23) and the game with the Tigers marks the first of three contests with squads from the East Division. Houston last visited the city Elvis Presley made famous back in 2006, and the Cougars not only escaped with a hard-fought 23-20 overtime decision over the Tigers, but also took the West Division in the process.

On Nov. 5, UCF invades Robertson Stadium in the second of two nationally-televised C-USA games for the Cougars. This key late-season matchup pairs the league’s top offense in Houston versus the league’s No. 1 defense in the Knights. Last season in Orlando, Houston saw its five-game win streak come to an end with a 37-32 defeat at the hands of UCF.

The Cougars wrap up the home slate by hosting Tulsa on Nov. 13. The Houston-Tulsa battle has determined the West Division winner every season since C-USA went to divisional play in 2005. Last year in Tulsa, the Cougars scored nine points in the final 21 seconds of the game to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, as Houston rallied for a 46-45 win over the Golden Hurricane.

Finally, in what could be a preview of the Conference USA Championship game just two weeks later on Dec. 4, Houston travels to Southern Miss on Nov. 20 in its final league game of the season. In 2009, the Cougars scored a last second touchdown to defeat the Golden Eagles, 50-43. Houston and Southern Miss met for the 2006 C-USA Championship game, a contest won 34-20 by the Cougars.

Rhoades added that the Athletics Department will work in conjunction with the UH Alumni Association, the Division of Student Affairs and the Student Government Association to determine the date for the 64th Houston Homecoming.

The two Friday-night affairs mark the first time since 1979, that Houston has hosted a regular-season game on a Friday night, a 14-10 win over Texas Tech on Nov. 23 in the Astrodome. The Cougars have not hosted a Friday night game on campus since 1964, when Houston shut out Texas A&M, 10-0, at what was then known as Jeppesen Stadium.

“We balance the opportunity for exposure for our conference and our schools with inconveniences for fans and conflicts to other events; and we try to keep these to a minimum,” said C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky. “Playing games in prime ESPN windows is important to Conference USA.”

Deposits for football season tickets are currently being accepted by calling the UH Ticket Office at 713-GO COOGS, logging online at www.UHCougars.com or dropping by the office in the Athletics/Alumni Center. Season ticket renewals will be available next week. Season ticket pricing will be released next week.