Houston in the 2026 playoff is the funniest take I've heard all week, and that's saying something. The Cougars couldn't even handle the Big 12 last year, and now they're magically gonna leapfrog everyone? Their portal work is fine, but it's not elite, and continuity only matters if the staff you kept is actually championship-caliber. The Big 12 is wide open, which means it's a gauntlet where anyone can lose on any Saturday. Oregon and Georgia are chalk for a reason, they recruit at a level Houston can't even dream of fr fr. Texas has the roster, but they have to prove they can handle the hype, which is a big ask. This whole "disrespect fuels us" narrative is for teams that are actually good. Houston is a solid program, but playoff talk is pure fantasy. They'll be lucky to win nine games. Notre Dame would run them off the field by halftime, and so would about ten other teams. Focus on winning the conference first, then we can talk about the big stage.