Greg McElroy adds TCU vs. Houston in Week 3 to ultimate 2023 college football schedule
The first-ever Big 12 game for Houston will be September 16 at TDECU Stadium against an old Southwest Conference foe in TCU. The matchup is quite an introduction to the conference as the Cougars get last year’s conference regular season title holder and the runner-up in the College Football Playoff.
Because of those storylines and stakes, Greg McElroy named the Houston-TCU game as his Week 3 destination for a 2023 ultimate college football road trip on the Always College Football with Greg McElroy podcast.
“Week 3 is a little bit more difficult,” McElroy said. “You have some interesting ones and one that just barely missed the pick for us, just barely missed it — very, very close — Backyard Brawl. Pitt and West Virginia. That game last year, Thursday night, season opener, Week 1. Matt Barrie alongside Louis Riddick on the call. It was awesome. Just an incredible game. So dramatic. So, so dramatic and you could just feel the vitriol there in what was formerly known as Heinz Field. I don’t recall what the name of it is now. I’m blanking but either way you could feel the vitriol. Now to have that thing returned in Morgantown should be pretty phenomenal.”
Pitt at West Virginia wasn’t the only game to get a shoutout from McElroy. He also thought about selecting an interesting SEC East matchup between South Carolina and Georgia.
“South Carolina-Georgia also a game in which there’s no love lost whatsoever,” McElroy said. “But the fact that that game’s in Athens makes me think South Carolina is gonna have a difficult time being super, super, super competitive in that game.”
Houston joins the Big 12 this year along with BYU, Houston and UCF after an 8–5 season and 5-3 mark in the AAC.
The Cougars will play eight games in Houston this year, seven at home and one on the road against city rival Rice. But the Week 3 matchup against the Horned Frogs will be one people in the program will likely remember for a long time due to its significance.
“But TCU at Houston is the direction that we’re gonna go,” McElroy said. “Why? Because Houston’s in the Big 12 for the first time. Is it a bit of a stretch? Perhaps. TCU, at this point, likely will be undefeated. It’s only Week 3 so that shouldn’t necessarily raise a banner for that. Houston, Dana Holgorsen has got his work cut out for him. If you look at their regular season win loss totals, what Vegas is expecting from Houston, they’re not expecting a whole lot as they transition into the Big 12.
“You look at the roster turnover man in the Big 12 of the newcomers — BYU, Cincinnati and UCF — nobody has had more roster turnover than the Houston Cougars. Now they get to host the national championship runner up from the year before. Could be a tall order. But either way, TDECU is going to be on fire for the first Big 12 game in Houston’s history.”