List of Sam Houston State Bearkats football seasons

This is a list of seasons completed by the Sam Houston Bearkats football team. The Bearkats compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of Conference USA. Sam Houston's first football team was fielded in 1912. The team plays its home games at the 12,593-seat Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.

Sam Houston has two national championships in their history, the first coming in 1964 as a member of the NAIA. The most recent title was in the 2021 spring season when Sam Houston defeated South Dakota State 23–21 in the NCAA Division I FCS national championship game.

The head coach of the Bearkats is Phil Longo, who has led the team since 2025. The Bearkats were members of FCS (formerly I-AA) from 1984 to 2022, before moving up to join the FBS in 2023.

Seasons Legend † National champions † Conference champions  ^ Bowl game berth / playoff result +List of Sam Houston Bearkats football seasonsSeasonTeamHead coachConferenceRegular season resultsPostseason resultsFinal rankingOverallConferenceBowl game/Playoff resultAP/NCAA PollCoaches' PollWinLossTieWinLossTieFinishSam Houston Normal 1912 1912 S. R. Warner Independent 2 2 0 — — — 1913 1913 3 1 1 — — — 1914 1914 Gene Berry 3 2 0 — — — 1915 1915 5 1 1 — — — 1916 1916 5 2 0 — — — 1917 1917 1 3 0 — — — 1918  No team due to World War I 1919 1919 0 7 0 — — — 1920 1920 Mutt Gee 1 3 2 — — —Sam Houston Normal Bear Cats 1921 1921 Mutt Gee Independent 3 1 2 — — — 1922 1922 2 3 0 — — —Sam Houston State Bearkats 1923 1923 J. W. Jones Independent 4 4 0 — — — 1924 1924 TIAA 2 5 1 2 3 1 4th — — — 1925 1925 5 4 0 2 4 0 5th — — — 1926 1926 5 2 1 4 1 0 2nd — — — 1927 1927 4 4 1 3 2 1 3rd — — — 1928 1928 5 5 1 5 3 0 4th — — — 1929 1929 5 3 1 3 1 1 3rd — — — 1930 1930† 9 1 0 5 0 0 1st† — — — 1931 1931 4 5 0 3 2 0 4th — — — 1932 1932 Lone Star 2 5 1 1 3 0 3rd — — — 1933 1933 3 4 2 1 2 2 5th — — — 1934 1934 3 4 2 2 3 0 4th — — — 1935 1935 3 6 0 0 5 0 6th — — — 1936 1936 Henry O. Crawford 2 7 0 1 4 0 5th — — — 1937 1937 5 5 0 3 3 0 4th — — — 1938 1938 Puny Wilson 8 2 0 5 1 0 2nd — — — 1939 1939 6 2 2 4 1 1 2nd — — — 1940 1940 8 2 0 5 1 0 2nd — — — 1941 1941 2 7 1 2 3 0 4th — — — 1942 1942 5 3 0 3 1 0 2nd — — — 1943  No team due to World War II 1944 1945 1946 1946 6 2 1 3 1 1 2nd — — — 1947 1947 3 6 0 1 4 0 5th — — — 1948 1948 0 9 1 0 4 0 5th — — — 1949 1949 3 7 0 0 4 0 5th — — — 1950 1950 5 5 0 2 2 0 3rd — — — 1951 1951 4 4 1 1 2 1 3rd — — — 1952 1952 Paul Pierce 6 4 0 3 2 0 3rd Won 1952 Shrimp Bowl vs. Northeastern State (OK), 41–20 ^ — — 1953 1953 9 1 0 4 1 0 2nd Won 1953 Refrigerator Bowl vs. College of Idaho, 14–12 ^ — — 1954 1954 6 4 0 2 3 0 4th — — — 1955 1955† 6 1 2 4 1 1 1st† — — — 1956 1956† 10 0 0 6 0 0 1st† Won 1956 Refrigerator Bowl vs. Middle Tennessee State, 27–13 ^ — — 1957 1957 3 5 1 2 3 1 4th — — — 1958 1958 7 3 0 4 2 0 2nd Lost 1958 Christmas Festival Bowl vs. Northwestern State, 11–18 ^ — — 1959 1959 5 5 0 3 4 0 5th — — — 1960 1960 3 6 0 2 5 0 6th — — — 1961 1961† 8 1 0 7 0 1st† — — — 1962 1962 5 3 1 4 2 1 3rd — — — 1963 1963 4 3 1 2 3 1 4th — — — 1964 1964† 9 1 1 5 1 0 1st† Tied 1964 Championship Bowl vs. Concordia, 7–7 ^ 2 9 1965 1965 4 6 0 1 5 0 6th — — — 1966 1966 6 3 1 4 2 1 3rd — — — 1967 1967 3 6 0 1 6 0 7th — — — 1968 1968 Tom Page 5 4 1 4 3 1 4th — — — 1969 1969 3 6 1 3 4 1 4th — — — 1970 1970 8 2 1 7 2 0 2nd — T-20 — 1971 1971 4 7 0 3 6 0 5th — — — 1972 1972 Allen Boren 5 6 0 4 4 0 4th — — — 1973 1973 2 8 0 2 7 0 7th — — — 1974 1974 Billy Tidwell 4 7 0 4 5 0 5th — — — 1975 1975 3 8 0 3 6 0 6th — — — 1976 1976 3 5 1 2 5 0 6th — — — 1977 1977 1 10 0 1 6 0 7th — — — 1978 1978 Melvin Brown 6 5 0 4 3 0 3rd — — — 1979 1979 1 9 0 0 7 0 8th — — — 1980 1980 3 7 0 2 5 0 6th — — — 1981 1981 2 8 0 2 5 0 6th — — — 1982 1982 Ron Randleman 3 8 0 1 5 0 8th — — — 1983 1983 4 7 0 1 6 0 7th — — — 1984 1984 Gulf Star 8 3 0 3 2 0 2nd — — — 1985 1985† 8 3 0 4 1 0 1st† — — — 1986 1986† 9 3 0 3 1 0 1st† NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — First Round ^ 11 — 1987 1987 Southland 8 3 0 5 1 0 2nd – 19 — 1988 1988 3 8 0 0 6 0 7th — — — 1989 1989 3 8 0 2 4 0 5th — — — 1990 1990 4 7 0 3 3 0 3rd — — — 1991 1991† 8 3 1 5 2 0 1st† NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — First Round ^ 12 — 1992 1992 6 3 2 3 3 1 3rd — — — 1993 1993 4 7 0 2 5 0 5th — — — 1994 1994 6 5 0 1 5 0 5th — — — 1995 1995 5 5 0 2 3 0 3rd — — — 1996 1996 4 7 3 3 3rd — — — 1997 1997 5 6 3 4 4th — — — 1998 1998 3 8 1 6 8th — — — 1999 1999 6 5 4 3 4th — — — 2000 2000 7 4 4 3 4th — — — 2001 2001† 10 3 5 1 1st† NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — Quarterfinals ^ 7 — 2002 2002 4 7 2 4 5th — — — 2003 2003 2 9 1 4 4th — — — 2004 2004† 11 3 4 1 1st† NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — Semifinals ^ 4 — 2005 2005 Todd Whitten 3 7 2 4 5th — — — 2006 2006 6 5 4 2 2nd — — — 2007 2007 7 4 5 2 2nd — — — 2008 2008 4 6 2 5 6th — — — 2009 2009 5 6 2 4 5th — — — 2010 2010 Willie Fritz 6 5 4 3 3rd — — — 2011 2011† 14 1 7 0 1st† NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs – National Championship Game ^ 2 2 2012 2012† 11 4 6 1 1st† NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs – National Championship Game ^ 2 2 2013 2013 9 5 4 3 3rd NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs — Second Round ^ 14 13 2014 2014† K. C. Keeler 11 5 7 1 1st† NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs – Semifinals ^ 6 6 2015 2015 11 4 7 2 2nd NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs — Semifinals ^ 3 4 2016 2016† 12 1 9 0 1st† NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs — Quarterfinals ^ 5 5 2017 2017 12 2 8 1 2nd NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs — Semifinals ^ 4 3 2018 2018 6 5 5 4 4th — — — 2019 2019 7 5 6 3 4th — — — 2020 2020† 10 0 6 0 1st† NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs — Champions † 1 1Sam Houston Bearkats 2021 2021† K.C. Keeler WAC 11 1 5 0 1st† NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs — Quarterfinals ^ 5 4 2022 2022 5 4 0 0 3rd — — — 2023 2023 C-USA 3 9 2 6 T–6th — — — 2024 2024 10 3 6 2 T–2nd Won New Orleans Bowl vs. Georgia Southern, 31–26 ^ — — 2025 2025 Phil Longo 2 10 1 7 T–11th — — 2026 2026 0 1 0 0 — — —Totals All-time:576–501–36() Conference:316–295–16()  Postseason:29–13–1() 

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