Baylor–Houston football rivalry

The Baylor–Houston football rivalry is a college football rivalry between the Baylor University Bears and the University of Houston Cougars. The rivalry dates back to 1950.^[2]

Baylor–Houston football rivalry

Baylor Bears Houston Cougars
First meeting	September 30, 1950 Baylor 34, Houston 7
Latest meeting	November 23, 2024 Baylor 20, Houston 10
Next meeting	November 29, 2025
Statistics
Meetings total	30
All-time series	Baylor leads, 15–14–1[1]
Largest victory	Houston, 66–10 (1989)
Longest win streak	Houston, 4 (1976–1979)
Current win streak	Baylor, 1 (2024–present)

120km
75miles

Houston

Baylor

   

Locations of Baylor and Houston

Series history

After several matchups in the 1950s, the two teams played each other every year from 1976 to 1995, when both schools were part of the now-defunct Southwest Conference.^[3] The rivalry was especially competitive from 1976 to 1986, when Hall of Fame coaches Grant Teaff (Baylor) and Bill Yeoman (Houston) were coaching against each other, with Yeoman holding a 6–4–1 edge over Teaff in the head-to-head.^[4][5]

After the breakup of the Southwest Conference, the two teams would not play each other again until 2023, when Houston joined Baylor in the Big 12 Conference.^[6][7] Despite not playing each other in that time frame, the rivalry was still contentious, as Houston fans felt that Baylor had taken their spot in the creation of the Big 12 back in 1996 by leveraging their state political connections at the time so as to not be left out of the conference.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Notable games

September 11, 1976: In what was Houston's first game as a member of the Southwest Conference, the Cougars would come away with a 23–5 win over Baylor on their way to the conference title in their first year in the league.^[12]

November 4, 2023: Playing each other for the first time since the breakup of the Southwest Conference, Houston defeated Baylor 25–24 in overtime thanks to a game-winning two-point conversion run from quarterback Donovan Smith.^[13]

Game results

Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game.

Baylor victories

Houston victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winning team Losing team 1 September 30, 1950 Waco Baylor 34 Houston 7 2 September 22, 1951 Houston #13 Baylor 19 Houston 0 3 November 15, 1952 Houston Houston 28 Baylor 6 4 November 14, 1953 Waco Houston 37 #9 Baylor 7 5 September 18, 1954 Waco Baylor 53 Houston 13 6 September 28, 1957 Waco #11 Baylor 14 #14 Houston 6 7 September 22, 1962 Houston Houston 19 Baylor 0 8 September 28, 1963 Waco Baylor 27 Houston 0 9 September 11, 1976 Waco Houston 23 Baylor 5 10 October 1, 1977 Houston #19 Houston 28 Baylor 24 11 October 7, 1978 Waco Houston 20 Baylor 18 12 October 6, 1979 Houston #6 Houston 13 Baylor 10 13 October 4, 1980 Waco #20 Baylor 24 Houston 12 14 October 3, 1981 Houston Houston 24 Baylor 3 15 October 2, 1982 Waco Tie 21 Tie 21 16 October 1, 1983 Houston Baylor 42 Houston 21 No. Date Location Winning team Losing team 17 October 6, 1984 Waco Houston 27 Baylor 17 18 October 5, 1985 Houston #19 Baylor 24 Houston 21 19 October 4, 1986 Waco #13 Baylor 27 Houston 13 20 October 3, 1987 Houston Baylor 30 Houston 18 21 October 1, 1988 Waco Houston 27 Baylor 24 22 October 7, 1989 Houston #12 Houston 66 Baylor 10 23 October 6, 1990 Waco #13 Houston 31 Baylor 15 24 October 5, 1991 Houston #11 Baylor 38 Houston 21 25 October 17, 1992 Waco Baylor 29 Houston 23 26 October 2, 1993 Houston Houston 24 Baylor 3 27 October 29, 1994 Waco Baylor 52 Houston 13 28 October 14, 1995 Houston Baylor 47 Houston 7 29 November 4, 2023 Waco Houston 25 Baylor 24 OT 30 November 23, 2024 Houston Baylor 20 Houston 10 Series: Baylor leads 15–14–1[1]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games