Best UH Bowl Victory

Football
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JD has an article on best bowl victories. My top two are the 1980 Cotton Bowl against Nebraska, and the 2015 Armed Forces Bowl against Pittsburgh. Both were terrific, come from behind wins. The Cotton Bowl was higher profile, against a national power, at least in those days, but the Armed Forces Bowl was improbable and amazing.

I guess I should be happy that I can’t decide.

https://link.houstonchronicle.com/view/671c56f9b30b0a52fd0e548fpq41g.akz/4cb4064e

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The 1977 win over undefeated, no. 4 Maryland in the Cotton Bowl was a great win, too. Lots of great wins for the Coogs.

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Also, beating a highly regarded Auburn in 1969 (Blubonnet Bowl). 36-7 ?

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1969, 1977, 1980

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#1 It has to be the PEACH BOWL in prime time vs Florida State. We were supposed to show up to get wiped out. SURPRISE!!
#2 The freezing cold Armed Forces Bowl vs Pitt. An improbable win in nasty conditions. It was one of the coldest days I’ve EVER experienced. I stayed the whole game and it was worth it.
#3 The Cotton Bowl vs Nebraska- Half the country didn’t know we played football.

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I like the shoutout to that win over Pitt. I think that experience gave the players who returned a never say die attitude.

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Nebraska.

It was the first Golden Age of UH sports and in one of only four major bowls at the time.

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Not old enough to have seen any bowls pre Briles so I can’t speak for those but since I’ve been watching the Peach Bowl is tops. Armed Forces would be #2 because of how unreal the comeback was. Beating Penn St would be #3.

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1976 Cotton
1979 Cotton
2015 Peach
1969 Astro-Bluebonnet
2025 Texas

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I was born in 89 so for me I enjoyed in person the
2014 Armed Forces vs Pittsburgh
2015 Peach Bowl vs Florida State
2022 Birmingham vs Auburn
2006 Liberty Bowl vs South Carolina

Those are a few I enjoyed in person. I also went to several Air Force bowl games and TCU 2007 game.

I didn’t go but the 2003 Hawaii Bowl was a good one.

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1977 COTTON BOWL VICTORY OVER MARYLAND earned the COOGS their HIGHEST NATIONAL RANKING #4 IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON!

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I think I remember the best (and most embarrassing) part of the Hawaii Bowl was the fight at the end!! LOL!!

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I am with you Sir. The newer Coogs generations has to understand that prior to c-usa we were on the National stage as being a member of a power conference, the SWC…and prior to 1976 we were an independent playing blue bloods programs and beating them regularly. Hence the sec looking at us to join. Instead we joined the SWC. From 1996 to a couple of years ago we were “exiled” from the power conferences. Thank god for the BIG12.

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As I recall, we had an invite to the SEC because we had the Astrodome. In our hubris and stupidity because of the Dome, we said “no thanks”. Probably one of the worst mistakes we ever made…

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Hey Grey, I have been following the cougars since the 60s and I never heard of the SEC invitation? Are there any articles that talked about it? I believe you I am just curious.

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I believe there was discussions but I don’t recall Houston invited to the SEC officially.

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I started going to UH in 1977. There was still talk of our SEC invite back then. The SEC was seen as more of a regional conference and out of our sense that we had something special- the Astrodome- we might have looked down our noses at the SEC. Bear in mind ESPN didn’t even exist until 1979- football was just on the big 3 -ABC CBS, and NBC. Little did we know what the future would bring…

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We rebuffed the SEC’s advances like a prom queen kicking a hillbilliy to the side. I first heard about it from the faculty.

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I STILL hate Deloss Dodds

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UH was in a football conference beginning in 1976 with Texas and Texas A&M. There was absolutely no way UH would move to a different conference leaving UH’s two biggest rivals.

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