The Houston Cougars got their first ranked win of the season, 35-32 over the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday night at TDECU Stadium, which keeps them right in the heart of the Big 12 conference race.

As a result, the Cougars shot up in the Week 7 AP Poll all the way up to No. 14. This was a six-spot rise for Houston and it is now in the top 15 in the country for the first time since the 2016 season.

Houston's thrilling victory over Oklahoma State was the Cougars' first ranked matchup at home since 2015 and improved their record to 6-1 on the season and 2-1 in the Big 12. It was a game that Houston needed, and it got it done.

Houston improved to 10-4-1 at home in ranked games, and this was the fourth straight top-25 win inside TDECU Stadium. Cougars' fifth-year quarterback Conner Weigman put up a career performance with 343 yards and five touchdown passes. Houston piled on over 500 yards of total offense and had over 35 minutes of possession.

UH, along with Texas Tech, is the only teams from the state ranked in the top 15. Houston is now ranked in seven straight AP Polls to begin the season for the first time since 2016 as well. The Big 12 now has four teams ranked in the top 15 as well.

Houston is now set up for a massive top-15 showdown on the road against Utah with ESPN College GameDay in town. The Cougars were just on national TV on FOX in their huge win over Oklahoma State and will get an even bigger opportunity in Week 8. If Houston is able to continue its winning ways, it will rise even more.

Houston stayed alive in the Big 12 race, and it will need to beat Utah as well to keep this going. This is the challenging part of the schedule that will define how Houston ends up doing this season. The Cougars have passed the first two tests at Kansas State and a ranked Oklahoma State team. The offense was in control while the defense made some big plays.

The Cougars have proven themselves as a Big 12 contender just after the halfway point, and now comes the time to really seperate themselves. Houston hasn't been ranked this high since the 2016 season, and coach Willie Fritz has truly turned this program around.