Bowl Projections: Houston Will Deserve BCS Bid After Winning Conference USA

Southern Mississippi is the only team with a chance to stop Houston from crashing the BCS party. The Golden Eagles' two losses came against UAB and Marshall, teams the Cougars beat by a combined 78 points. Should Houston beat Southern Miss, it will have earned a BCS bid.

Houston is home to the nation's top offense at nearly 450 yards and 53 points per game. The Cougars haven't scored less than 35 points in any game and made easy work of nearly every Conference USA foe, including Friday's destruction of Tulsa, which was previously unbeaten in conference play.

Lost in the offense's dominance has been an improving defense.

It's a unit that hasn't allowed more than 17 points since before Halloween. That includes Tulsa's 16 points after the Golden Hurricane had scored 33 against Oklahoma State and 21 vs. Boise State.

Houston survived early tests from UCLA, which went on to beat a ranked Arizona State squad, and WAC Champion Louisiana Tech. So while their schedule might not match up with an Alabama or LSU, the Cougars do have a couple of nice wins.

They've also benefited from a plethora of upsets over the last month to slowly, but surely, move up the BCS standings. They should move up another spot or two when the new rankings are released.

One thing lost in the debate about Houston's worthiness is how difficult it is to remain undefeated, even when a team isn't playing an SEC schedule. Just ask Boise.

Houston has had a target on its back since late September and has taken down every challenger that's come its way. Every team has wanted to be the one which ended the Cougars' Cinderella dreams and all of them have failed to do it.

Every time Heisman candidate Case Keenum and his teammates step onto the field, the pressure on them continues to increase. It's not easy to complete nearly three-quarters of your passes when one bad game can ruin an entire season like Keenum has done so far.

How will Houston fare against a power conference team? Who knows, but the point is the Cougars deserve an opportunity to prove themselves after spending the last couple of months hearing about everything they can't do.

But first, they must avoid or thwart another upset attempt from Southern Mississippi, which already went on the road and beat a solid Virginia team.

All told, in a season where only one other team has managed to maintain a flawless record, Houston deserves an opportunity on the BCS stage to prove its record is no fluke.