Houston Cougars is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Houston, but they have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. After the dissolution of the Southwest Conference in 1996, in which these teams were a member, the Cougars joined Conference USA as a part of the West Division. University of Houston's colors are scarlet red and albino white and the mascot is a cougar named Shasta. The athletic director for the Cougars is Dave Maggard. Their home football games are played at the 32,000 capacity John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium located on the campus of the University of Houston. The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston, and it is referred to as "Houston" or "UH".
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They are currently a member of the Conference USA college athletic conference, and are coached by Kevin Sumlin. In 1946, the team began its first season, and throughout their history, they have won 10 conference championships, and have had several inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame, including a Heisman Trophy winner. The Cougars finished second in the Conference USA West Division to Todd Graham's Tulsa Golden Hurricanes in 2007, and on November 25, 2007, they were invited to the Texas Bowl. Kevin Sumlin, a co-offensive coordinator for the Oklahoma Sooners was named as the Houston Cougars head coach on December 14, 2007, and he became the first African-American head coach in Cougar history, and the eighth in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision.