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Sam Houston

Bearkats · Conference USA

Head coach Phil Longo Year 2 with Sam Houston

Year-2 HCs (2015-2024) averaged +0.09 W vs. preseason expectation

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
2.2
Expected wins
2-7
Proj record
0 to 5
Win range (90%)
#137 (133–138)
Final rank (90%)
0%
Make playoff
0%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

0%

Baseline projection.

  • vs Tulsa
    Home · Sep 12
  • vs New Mexico State
    Home · Oct 22
  • vs Middle Tennessee
    Home · Nov 21

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2026

43 score
  • Quarterback 31% (2/5 )
  • Offensive line 44% (7/16 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 68% (14/29 )
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 55% (12/29 )
  • Secondary 27% (8/19 )
  • Special teams 1% (3/7 )

Share of last season's production each unit returns. Higher means more continuity: 70%+ is healthy, 45–70% a normal rebuild, under 45% a major turnover.

Portal additions · 2026

-1.0 rating

30 proven transfers in, carrying the production below from their prior school.

  • Kamari Maxwell WR ← Austin Peay 33 impact
  • Ishmel Atkins CB ← Elon 30 impact
  • Alijah Cason WR ← Holy Cross 23 impact
  • Max Whisner TE ← Akron 14 impact
  • Caesar Magee CB ← Northwestern State 14 impact
  • Joey Hunter CB ← Memphis 7 impact

Impact scores offensive skill additions (QB/RB/WR/TE) — prior-season production normalized within position (100 ≈ a 90th-percentile producer at that spot) and discounted for non-FBS competition, so a top back counts alongside a top quarterback. Defensive and O-line additions count as transfers but aren't box-score measurable, so they carry no impact score. The rating figure is this class's portal contribution vs. the FBS average, capped at ±2.5.

If QB1 is out (Hunter Watson)

GIE projects a 7.3 rating drop and a 29.1pp shift in playoff probability if Sam Houston loses its QB1 for an extended stretch. (n=5 historical samples; pooled across recent seasons.)

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 22.5% 6th — bottom tier
  • Red-zone TD rate 13.7% 38th — below avg
  • 4th-down aggression 36.2% 50th — average
  • Late & close 4.5 yds/play 30th — below avg

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    Sam Houston: 2025 Week 16 recap

    Sam Houston sits at 2–10 after a 56–16 home loss to Florida International in Week 14, a result that underscores the Bearkats' struggles this season. The team's GIE rating of –27.8 places them at 135th nationally, reflecting a roster that…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.