Houston Cougars Bowl Game History (Wins, Appearances and All-Time Record)

Bowl game season is an exciting time in college football. Schools across the nation will battle it out for postseason glory and a chance to end their year on a high note.

One team that's no stranger to playing in bowl games is the Houston Cougars. Here's everything you need to know about Houston's bowl history before making its next appearance.

Houston Bowl Game History

It shouldn't come as a surprise that a storied team like the Cougars has been very busy during past bowl seasons. Houston has played in an impressive 29 bowls all-time.

The Cougars made their first bowl appearance in 1952 under head coach Clyde Lee. Houston picked apart the Dayton Flyers and earned a 26-21 Salad Bowl victory. It earned two more bowl wins in the 1962 and 1969 seasons before finally losing a postseason contest in 1971.

Houston's most recent bowl appearance was in the 2022 Independence Bowl. The Cougars matched up against Louisiana in that contest and emerged with a 23-16 victory over the Ragin' Cajuns.

Houston Bowl Game Wins and Appearances

Houston owns a 13-16-1 all-time record in bowl games. Check out the school's full bowl results below.

• Salad Bowl (Jan. 1, 1952): Houston 26, Dayton 21
• Tangerine Bowl (Dec. 22, 1962): Houston 49, Miami 21
• Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl (Dec. 31, 1969): Houston 37, Auburn 7
• Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl (Dec. 31, 1971): Colorado 29, Houston 17
• Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl (Dec. 29, 1973): Houston 47, Tulane 7
• Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl (Dec. 23, 1974): Houston 31, NC State 31
• Cotton Bowl Classic (Jan. 1, 1977): Houston 30, Maryland 21
• Cotton Bowl Classic (Jan. 1, 1979): Notre Dame 35, Houston 34
• Cotton Bowl Classic (Jan. 1, 1980): Houston 17, Nebraska 14
• Garden State Bowl (Dec. 14, 1980): Houston 35, Navy 0
• Sun Bowl (Dec. 26, 1981): Oklahoma 40, Houston 14
• Cotton Bowl Classic (Jan. 1, 1985): Boston College 45, Houston 28
• Aloha Bowl (Dec. 25, 1988): Washington State 24, Houston 22
• Liberty Bowl (Dec. 27, 1996): Syracuse 30, Houston 17
• Hawai'i Bowl (Dec. 25, 2003): Hawaii 54, Houston 48
• Fort Worth Bowl (Dec. 23, 2005): Kansas 42, Houston 13
• Liberty Bowl (Dec. 29, 2006): South Carolina 44, Houston 36
• Texas Bowl (Dec. 28, 2007): TCU 20, Houston 13
• Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 31, 2008): Houston 34, Air Force 28
• Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 31, 2009): Air Force 47, Houston 20
• TicketCity Bowl (Jan. 2, 2012): Houston 30, Penn State 14
• BBVA Compass Bowl (Jan. 4, 2014): Vanderbilt 41, Houston 24
• Armed Forces Bowl (Jan. 2, 2015): Houston 35, Pittsburgh 34
• Peach Bowl (Dec. 31, 2015): Houston 38, Florida State 24
• Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 17, 2016): San Diego State 34, Houston 10
• Hawai'i Bowl (Dec. 24, 2017): Fresno State 33, Houston 27
• Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 22, 2018): Army 70, Houston 14
• New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 24, 2020): Hawaii 28, Houston 14
• Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 28, 2021): Houston 17, Auburn 13
• Independence Bowl (Dec. 23, 2022): Houston 23, Louisiana 16

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

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