The Houston Cougars are a Division I soccer program in the Big 12. The program is identified by its mascot, Shasta. Houston soccer has competed across the Big 12 championship contention through multiple eras at the Division I level. Houston most recently won against UCF Knights 1-0 on October 25, 2026 at UCF Soccer and Track Complex. The Cougars sit at 6-2 on the year. Houston fields a 29-athlete roster this season, with 0 verified on RallyFuel. The class distribution includes 7 freshmen, 5 sophomores, 6 juniors, and 6 seniors. The Cougars play home games on the Houston campus. Shasta anchors Houston soccer's identity, with "Cougar Fight Song" as the program's signature anthem. When fans fuel a Cougar athlete on RallyFuel, 90% lands directly with the athlete — funding training, recovery, and the realities of college sports.
The University of Houston competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the Big 12 Conference, which it joined on July 1, 2023, after a decade in the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars sponsor 17 varsity teams.
Houston has won 17 NCAA team championships: 16 in men's golf between 1956 and 1985 and one in men's cross country in 1960. Men's basketball has played for the national title three times, in 1983, 1984 and 2025, and returned to the Final Four in 2021 and 2025. Since joining the Big 12, the Cougars have won the regular-season title in 2024 and 2025 and the conference tournament in 2025.
According to the school, 76 current or former Cougars from 23 countries have competed in the Olympics, and Cougars have won 43 Olympic medals, 20 of them gold. Michelle Smith won three swimming golds and a bronze for Ireland at Atlanta 1996, Clyde Drexler (1992) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1996) won basketball gold for the U.S., and diver Tania Cagnotto took silver and bronze for Italy at Rio 2016. At Paris 2024, sprinters Shaun Maswanganyi of South Africa and Louie Hinchliffe of Great Britain won 4x100-meter relay silver and bronze.
The Fertitta Center, opened for the 2018-19 season, is home to men's and women's basketball and volleyball. Football plays on John O'Quinn Field at the on-campus stadium that opened in 2014 on the former Robertson Stadium site. Baseball plays at Schroeder Park, softball at Cougar Softball Stadium, and track and field at Tom Tellez Track at the Carl Lewis International Complex.
Cross-town neighbor Rice is the oldest rival, and the two schools play for the Bayou Bucket in football. Texas Tech, a Southwest Conference rival, became a conference opponent again when both joined the Big 12 in 2023. Fans flash the Cougar Paw hand sign, a tradition born in the old rivalry with Texas, and the live and costumed mascot is Shasta.
