The Houston Cougars went on the road to Waco, Texas to meet with Baylor of the Southwest Conference. Both Houston and Baylor had a six-game winning streak. Baylor led the series 3–2, and were led by second-year head coach Sam Boyd. Also coaching for the Bears was lines coach Harden Cooper, who had previously served in the same capacity for Houston under Hal Lahar from 1950–1954. As a pre-season ranked team, and a win against Villanova the week prior, Baylor entered the game nationally-ranked at #11 in the AP Poll.
