There’s something about LSU, interim head coaches and the Texas Bowl.

LSU is going back to the Texas Bowl for the second straight year, it was announced Sunday. The Tigers will finish their season against the No. 21 Houston Cougars at 8:15 p.m. CT on Dec. 27 at NRG Stadium in Houston, a familiar place for the team. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

It will be the third trip to the Texas Bowl in the past five seasons for LSU. The Tigers will play their last game under interim head coach Frank Wilson, and they also played in the Texas Bowl in 2021 under interim coach Brad Davis.

LSU lost that game 42-20 to Kansas State with a depleted roster. Last season, LSU beat Baylor 44-31 in the Texas Bowl. It has made one other appearance in the Texas Bowl, when it defeated Texas Tech 56-27 in 2016.

Led by former Tulane coach Willie Fritz, Houston went 9-3 this season while playing in the Big 12. The Cougars got off to a 7-1 start this season, but they split their last four games. They still finished ranked in the top 25 of the final College Football Playoff rankings.

LSU (7-5) will try to finish a disappointing season with a win. It started the year with CFP aspirations after signing the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country, but the Tigers fell well short of expectations and fired head coach Brian Kelly in the midst of his fourth season. They have gone 2-2 under Wilson with losses to Alabama and Oklahoma.

Houston went 4-8 during Fritz’s first season, but it has turned things around this year. It has scored 28.3 points per game, ranking 65th in the country, and it has allowed 21.8 points per game, which ranks 40th nationally. Its losses came against Texas Tech, West Virginia and TCU.

It’s unclear what the roster will look like. LSU wide receivers Kylan Billiot and Jelani Watkins have decided to enter the transfer portal when it opens Jan. 2, but there are no other known opt-outs or transfers at this point.

LSU’s offensive coaching staff is also in flux after the hiring of new head coach Lane Kiffin. Wilson will coach through the bowl game, Kiffin said, but his future with the team is uncertain after that. Kiffin has brought in a new offensive staff, while LSU retained most of its defensive staff after defensive coordinator Blake Baker passed on jobs at Tulane and Memphis.