Will Houston spoil BYU's Big 12 football championship dreams?
The Houston Cougars have nothing to lose.
Out of contention for a bowl game with one game left in the season, Houston will be playing for pride on Saturday when they travel to Provo, Utah, to face No. 19 BYU.
BYU, on the other hand, has everything on the line.
Kalani Sitake's team is in a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12, and they need to win Saturday to have a chance to advance to the Big 12 championship game. If BYU can beat Houston — and either Arizona State or Iowa State loses on Saturday — the Cougars will earn a berth in the title game.
Despite being 13.5-point favorites, Sitake knows Willie Fritz will have his team ready.
"We're getting ready for a team like Houston who's dangerous," said Sitake in his Monday press conference. "[They've] beaten some teams and surprised some teams along the way, and Willie Fritz is a really good coach. ... He's establishing his culture and his program in Houston and I know they're going to be really excited to come here and play this game, so we've got to be ready for that."
Houston has the worst scoring offense in all of Division I college football at 13.6 points per game. The Cougars have not scored an offensive touchdown in two weeks, and in their seven losses they have averaged just 6.6 points.
Houston has shown glimpses of big-play ability in their four wins, specifically from quarterback Zeon Chriss. The redshirt sophomore, who has started six games, has rushed for 376 yards and 2 touchdowns. In their 24-19 upset of Kansas State, Chriss was 11-of-11 passing for 103 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 75 yards — including the game-winning 41-yard touchdown run.
In order to have a shot against BYU, Chriss needs to have a big game — and Houston's defense needs to force turnovers. The Cougars picked off Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson three times last week, including a 41-yard pick-six from Jeremiah Wilson.
As bad as Houston's offense has been, its defense is one of the best in the Big 12. The Cougars allow just 22.3 points per game and they give up the fewest yards per game in the conference — 321.
As every Big 12 fan knows, anything can happen on Saturday night in Provo.
Here are the latest betting odds for Houston's matchup with BYU:
Houston at BYU TV Channel, Live Stream, Betting Odds
Who: Houston (4-7, 3-5) at No. 19 BYU (9-2, 6-2) in a Big 12 college football game
When: 9:15 p.m. CT | Saturday, November 30
Where: LaVell Edwards Stadium | Provo, Utah
Live Stream: Stream Houston-BYU live on fuboTV (Start your free trial)
TV Channel: ESPN
Our Prediction: BYU 23, Houston 20
Betting Odds: BYU is favored by 13.5 points per FanDuel Sportsbook
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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.