College football bowl season is underway, and as usual, the state of Texas is right in the middle of the action, hosting a number of big matchups. In Houston this Friday, the Texas Bowl is set to kick off, pitting two teams from the Lone Star State against each other. TCU and the University of Houston will meet at Reliant Stadium on the 28th at 8:00 p.m. The two teams are old conference rivals from their days together in the old Southwest Conference, but now each has found a new home with TCU joining Mountain West and Houston, Conference USA.

Of course, the end of the college football season doesn’t just mean bowl games, but also the start of that other winter contest: coaching changes. Houston lost the coach who brought a high-octane, no-huddle offense to the school when Art Briles decided to take over at Baylor. Houston will be led going forward by Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator Kevin Sumlin, but for this game, Cougars assistant Chris Thurmond will assume the role of interim head coach.

The Cougars have two standout players in running back Anthony Aldridge and redshirt freshman quarterback Case Keenum. For the season, Aldridge has rushed for 1,568 yards and 14 touchdowns, needing just 190 yards to set a new school record for rushing in a single season. Keenum is the Conference USA Freshman of the Year after tallying for 1,924 passing yards, with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Houston’s record for the year is 8-4.

TCU is coming off a solid, but disappointing, year in the Mountain West, in which the Horned Frogs began the season ranked 22nd, moved to 19th, and then folded after posting their only two consecutive game losses against Texas and the Air Force. . . TCU went on to post a 7-5 record, good for fifth in the Mountain West. The Horned Frogs have kicked off their running game late in the season, rushing for 627 yards in the past two games. Joseph Turner rushed for 226 yards and four touchdowns against San Diego State in the last game of the year. The defense is led by three-time Mountain West Conference first-team Chase Ortiz, who posted 8 sacks and 15 1/2 tackles for losses on the season.

TCU’s record in bowl games is 9-12-1 overall, while UH posts a 7-9-1 record. Houston leads the overall series between the two schools, 13-11.