ESPN FPI predicts Houston Cougars vs. Arizona Wildcats winner

Houston needs two more wins to become bowl eligible
Willie Fritz and the Houston Cougars need two wins to become bowl eligible this season.
Willie Fritz and the Houston Cougars need two wins to become bowl eligible this season. / Thomas B. Shea-Imagn Images

Houston has been here before.

Despite winning two of their last three games — including a stunning 24-19 upset of heavily-favored Kansas State — the Cougars are underdogs once again.

Heading into Friday's Big 12 road game at Arizona, the Cougars are 1.5-point underdogs. Coming off a bye week, Willie Fritz's squad needs two wins to become bowl eligible, which would be a remarkable turnaround in year one of Fritz's tenure.

FPI Prediction for Houston vs. Arizona

ESPN's updated Football Power Index (FPI), which is "meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season" also thinks the Cougars are going to lose on Friday. The ESPN FPI gives Houston a 42.7% chance to beat Arizona.

Not only does the FPI not like Houston's chances to beat Arizona — it also predicts the Cougars will go winless the rest of the season. Here's a look at how the FPI predicts the remainder of the Cougars' Big 12 games:

  • at Arizona - 42.7%
  • Baylor - 34.1%
  • at BYU - 15.2%

The FPI gives Houston a 2.4% chance of winning out, and a 22.2% chance of getting to six wins.

The Cougars leaned on their stingy defense and opportunistic offense in upset victories over Utah and Kansas State. That's a formula they will try to replicate against Arizona. Houston's defense is currently ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 in yards allowed at just 319 per game.

The Houston at Arizona Big 12 football matchup is scheduled to kick off Friday at 8:15 p.m. MST/9:15 p.m. CT and will be televised on FS1.


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Ben Sherman
BEN SHERMAN

Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.