Jamal Shead, are you serious?
As if the star guard for the Houston Cougars hadn’t provided enough thrills and heroics this year, he did so again on Saturday, hitting the game-winning shot with under a second left to give the No. 1-ranked Houston Cougars an 87-85 win at Oklahoma.
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The Cougars, winners of seven straight, will obviously remain No. 1 in all three major rankings heading into what could be a championship week.
The toughest conference in college basketball this year has been the Big 12, and Houston is on the verge of being the regular-season champion of that conference.
Houston (26-3, 13-3) enters this week one game ahead of Iowa State for first place in the conference with two games remaining.
Third-place Baylor is out of contention with a 10-6 record, so it will come down to what the Cougars and Cyclones do this week.
Houston can win at least a share of the conference title on Wednesday when it travels to Central Florida.
The Knights might be 15-13 overall and 6-10 in league play, but they’re not a pushover. Central Florida is No. 65 in the NET rankings and have victories at home against Kansas and at Texas this year.
Also on Wednesday, Iowa State hosts BYU. Any combination of a Houston win or Iowa State loss will give the Cougars a share of regular season league title. If Houston wins and Iowa State loses, the Cougars will win it outright. If Houston loses and Iowa State wins, then the last day of the regular season will get awfully dramatic.
Houston will finish the season on Saturday hosting Kansas, while Iowa State will play at Kansas State.
If Houston can win the Big 12 in the regular season, odds are good it will be the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament no matter what happens in the Big 12 tournament. Being the No. 1 seed would offer some advantages.
Regardless, Houston has shown in its first year in the Big 12 that it not only belongs in the Big 12, but it could become king of college basketball’s best conference.
This could definitely be a fun week, UH fans.