Houston coach Willie Fritz got exactly what he wanted from a late-season bye week, with his focus on health and wellness playing out to expectations in advance of the stretch run.

The 23rd-ranked Cougars (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) host TCU on Saturday, two weeks removed from a 30-27 road victory over UCF. The Cougars are one game back in the loss column for first place in the league standings. A win this weekend would strengthen the Cougars' hopes for a Big 12 title.

"I think it was really good for us," Fritz said of the late bye week. "We had a team meeting on Monday, and I told them our No. 1 goal was to get as healthy as we possibly can. So we were very careful with probably five or six guys who were banged up. We've been getting them through the last two to three games. Now it looks like all

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