Willie Fritz Has a Big Expectation Of The Houston Fan Base

The No. 20 Houston Cougars have a huge matchup this Saturday against the No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys. This game is already big because of its implications for the Big 12.

But the game is even bigger since the Cougars will then visit the No. 11 Utah Utes the following week. Not surprisingly, head coach Willie Fritz is looking for the support of the Cougar faithful on Saturday night:

"We oughta have a sellout. That's our goal."

Houston has to take advantage of the home atmosphere. The Cougars haven't put together the most intimidating home crowds in 2026 so far. That needs to change with such an important game, with big implications for the Big 12 and the College Football Playoff.

Fritz said in a recent press conference, according to Chris Baldwin, "I think kickoff being at 6:30 on Saturday with great weather, we're gonna have a truckload of people there. So we oughta... Have a sellout; that's our goal."

Only 28,742 fans attended the Week 1 33-20 win over the Oregon State Beavers, 28,936 attended a 77-6 rout of the Southern Jaguars in Week 2, and just 25,593 attended a Week 4 27-17 win over the UCF Knights.

TDECU Stadium has a capacity of only about 40,000, which isn't even half the size of stadiums like Jordan-Hare Stadium (Auburn Tigers) and Memorial Stadium (Nebraska Cornhuskers), let alone the enormous stadiums that exceed 85,000, 90,000, or even 100,000. But sometimes it's about the atmosphere and how the team plays off of that.

If the Cougars know the stadium is full of their fans and that the place is "rocking," you can only assume that will help Houston.

Houston Plays Its Biggest Game of 2026 Thus Far

The Cougars played a huge Week 3 game against the No. 10 Texas Tech Red Raiders. Unfortunately, Houston fell just short of the upset, losing 28-26 in a big road matchup.

That game, however, is recoverable from. A loss to the Cowboys would put the Cougars at two losses, already risking any CFP chances and effectively eliminating any chance of a Big 12 Championship appearance. Utah went 10-2 last season, but because it didn't reach the Big 12 Championship, it fell short of making the CFP and instead got a bowl game.

Unfortunately for a team like Houston in the Big 12, a 10-2 record won't earn the respect that a 10-2 record in the SEC or Big Ten does. Fans and even the CFP committee would probably like to see a legendary program make the CFP. A 10-3 Alabama team made the CFP over Utah, only to get absolutely murdered by the Indiana Hoosiers, 38-3.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the Cougars must win out to reach the CFP, which honestly looks like it should be Houston's goal after showing that the Kansas Wildcats were completely outmatched; it just means that another loss is playing with fire. And a loss at home? Even worse.

Of the next two games, this one could be the easiest to win because of the Utes' hostile environment. Houston knows just how critical this game is against the Cowboys and needs to play its best football in 2026 in the next couple of weeks.

If Houston can go 2-0 and head into a bye week as the conference's best team, then it is in control of its own destiny. Fans must show up in this big game against Oklahoma State to help make something like this happen.