Following a terrific and historic regular season, the Houston Cougars men’s basketball team will attempt to do something in the coming weeks that they never have in school history: Win a national championship.
As expected following a Big 12 regular season title and advancing to the Big 12 tournament final, the Cougars were chosen as the No. 1 seed in the South region.
Recommended Videos
Here are five key questions for the Cougars going into the tournament.
1. Did Houston get a good draw for the first weekend?
After the Selection Show on Sunday, several pundits were saying how defending national champion and No. 1 overall seed UConn got the toughest draw of the four No. 1 seeds, so from that perspective the Cougars might be fortunate.
But just about any opponent in the NCAA tournament is dangerous, and it’s always about matchups and playing teams that aren’t as good at exploiting your weaknesses as others.
The one likely gimme for Houston in the tournament will be its first round game against No. 16 seeded Longwood. Essentially, the tournament will begin Sunday when Houston will likely play either No. 8-seeded Nebraska or No. 9-seeded Texas A&M.
Nebraska led the Big Ten in 3-pointers made and was the third-best team in that league in opponents 3-point percentage, so the Cornhuskers can beat teams with a decided cumulative edge from the 3-point line. Texas A&M on the other hand leads the nation in offensive rebounds per game and led the SEC in rebounding margin at 8.8.
Houston was the best defensive team in the Big 12 and was the league’s third-best rebounding team, so the Cougars have the means to combat the strengths of whichever team they face.
2. Which teams are the biggest challengers to Houston in the South region?
The Cougars certainly have blue blood programs to deal with in their region. Kentucky is the No. 3 seed in the region, while Duke is the No. 4 seed. That should definitely get Houston’s attention when it comes to brand name recognition of those teams.
A matchup with Duke could await in the Sweet 16 round in Dallas, but we’ll deal with that next week once the first and second round games are played. The No. 2 seed is Marquette, which has been a top-10 team all season out of the Big East.
3. Which team in the South region can be a surprise challenger for the Cougars?
Don’t look any further than No. 12-seeded James Madison, which will be a popular pick to upset No. 5-seeded Wisconsin in the first round. The Dukes are 31-3 on the season and have a gritty, cohesive, veteran team that can score points. James Madison is tied for ninth in the country in points per game at 84.4.
If James Madison beats Wisconsin, the Dukes would be a serious threat to Duke (see what we did there haha) in the second round and could be an issue for the Cougars in a potential Sweet 16 matchup.
4. How much will the blowout loss in the Big 12 championship game affect the Cougars?
Probably not much at all. In fact, it might help. Ultimately, not much was at stake in the Big 12 final against Iowa State, and getting a little dose of humble pie after so much success might make Houston hungrier and better for NCAA the tournament.
5. Will playing on Friday instead of Thursday this week be helpful for the Cougars?
It absolutely will. While conference tournaments are exciting and are a way for bubble teams to get into the NCAA tournament, they can be grueling for higher-seeded teams who already were going to be in the tournament, such as the Cougars.
Houston played three games in a row during the Big 12 tournament, so getting an extra day to recover and prepare will be beyond helpful. There have been many teams in recent years who have played three or four games in their conference tournaments and had nothing left in their tanks for the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament, particularly those who played first-round games on Thursday.