University of Houston Athletics
Football Remains Among Nation's Best in National Polls
11/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Bowl Championship Series Standings (Nov. 22, 2009) 
Rankings
HOUSTON - The University of Houston football remained ranked in both national polls and the latest Bowl Championship Series standings following an impressive home victory last weekend.
The Cougars (9-2 * 5-2 C-USA West) improved to No. 20 in the recent USA Today Coaches Poll, racking up 305 points to rank behind No. 19 Utah and ahead of No. 21 Miami (Fla.).
Although they boosted their point total to 199, the Cougars fell in the latest Associated Press poll to No. 25, just behind No. 24 USC.
This marked the ninth week that the Cougars have been ranked during the 2009 regular season, the most since 1990.
The Cougars moved up to No. 23 in the latest BCS standings with an average of .1461. Houston stood behind No. 22 California and ahead of No. 24 North Carolina.
RECENT ACTION
The Cougars scored 21 first-quarter points and 42 first-half points and never looked back in taking a dominating 55-14 win against Conference USA-rival Memphis on Saturday on John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium.
Junior quarterback Case Keenum threw for 405 yards and five touchdowns in slightly more than a half of action, while freshman running back Charles Sims added 90 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the victory.
That win, combined with SMU's loss at Marshall, put the Cougars in control of the C-USA West Division championship. While both teams have a 5-2 record in league action, Houston owns the tiebreaker against the Mustangs due to its 38-15 win in Houston on Oct. 24.
UP NEXT
The Cougars wrap up their regular season when they play host to Conference USA- and crosstown-rival Rice at 7 p.m., Saturday, on John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium. With a win against the Owls, the Cougars clinch a share of the C-USA West Division title and advance to the C-USA Championship Game on Dec. 5.
The winner of Saturday's East Carolina-Southern Miss game in Greenville, N.C., will represent the East Division in the C-USA Championship Game. For the Cougars to play host to the C-USA Championship Game on Dec. 5, Houston must defeat Rice and Southern Miss must beat East Carolina.
East Carolina will play host to the C-USA title game with a win against Southern Miss.
ATHLETICS TICKET OFFICE INFORMATION
To order tickets, fans can visit the Athletics Ticket Office (located on the first floor of the Athletics/Alumni Center, 3100 Cullen Blvd.), or call 713-GO-COOGS (462-6647) Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m., to 5 p.m.
Fans always can purchase tickets to UH events, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by visiting UHCougars.com and clicking the Tickets link.
RADIO/TELEVISION INFORMATION
Fans can hear Saturday's game on 790 AM The Sports Animal with Tom Franklin calling the play-by-play action, Ted Pardee providing analysis and Chuck Brown reporting from the sideline. The pregame show is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
LIVE STATS INFORMATION
Fans can follow live stats over the Internet by clicking the Gametracker link at UHCougars.com.
ABOUT THE BCS
The Harris Interactive Poll, USA Today Coaches Poll and computer rankings each comprise one-third of the BCS Standings. To derive the three percentages, each team is assigned an inverse point total (25 for No. 1, 24 for No. 2 etc.). The two poll percentages are calculated by dividing each team's point total by a maximum of 2,850 possible points (Harris) and 1,475 points (USA Today).
The computer rankings percentage is calculated by dropping the highest and lowest ranking for each team and then dividing the remaining total by 100 (the maximum possible points).
The BCS Average is calculated by averaging the percentage totals of the Harris Interactive Poll, USA Today Poll and computer rankings.
The team's BCS Averages are ranked to produce the BCS Standings.
The six computer ranking providers are Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin and Peter Wolfe. Each computer ranking provider accounts for schedule strength within its formula.
