Arguably the best sporting event of the year just got started with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio as March Madness is now officially under way, but the intensity is about to ramp up. The first round will get started in just a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon. The regular season and every conference tournament provided a lot of action and entertainment, but nothing compares to March Madness. It's the most wonderful time of the year, and the #1 seed Houston basketball team is hoping to make some noise this season.
There is so much to love about March Madness, and the first week of the tournament is one of the best stretches in all of sports. Basketball begins at noon and there are countless good games all day and into the night. College basketball fans will be setting up multiple TVs to be able to take in as much March Madness action at once as humanly possible. Houston basketball fans will have to wait longer than most to watch their team play, however, as they don't get going against 16 seed Longwood until Friday night at 9:20 ET. Still, there is plenty of action to take in before then.
The upsets are always special as well. It seems like every season there is at least one underdog team that captures America's heart and makes a surprise deep run in March Madness. For example, #16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson took down #1 seed Purdue last year and ended up putting up a good fight in the second round too. They lost to Florida Atlantic, however. Then, #9 said Florida Atlantic turned into the cinderella team as they marched all the way to the Final Four. Upsets are one of the best parts of college basketball, and something about March Madness brings them out. We will likely have a cinderella team to root for in the next week. Houston is a one seed this year and they are hoping to avoid joining the group of one seeds that have lost in the first round. The Cougars are coming for a national title.
Another great part of March Madness are the historic performances put on by individual players. Every so often we will see a player completely take over a game and put their team on their back, and they sometimes carry their squad all the way to a national title. It's always fun to watch. When it gets to the later stages of the tournament, everyone knows that player is getting the ball, and still, no one can stop him. Those kind of take overs are always extremely fun to watch in March Madness, and Houston basketball has some players that are capable of making a run like this. If they want to win it all, they will need guys to step up and put the team on their back.
Houston has had a magical season
This season has been a special one for Houston. The Cougars have been very good for awhile now, but things changed this year because of the fact that they moved to the Big 12. When they were in the AAC, people didn't take them as seriously because their conference schedule was much weaker than it is now. Now, the Cougars are the best team in arguably the best conference in college basketball. Not only are people taking them more seriously, but this also bodes well for their national title hopes. Houston is much more battle-tested this year than they have been in year's past. They are ready to make a run.
In year one of being in the Big 12, Houston finished the regular season with a 27-3 overall record and a 15-3 mark in conference play. The Cougars won the Big 12 regular season championship, but they fell just short of the title sweep as they lost to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament title game. Still, the Cougars were the most dominant team in the Big 12 this season, and they are poised for March Madness success.
It all starts Friday for Houston basketball. The Cougars are coming for it all, and here are three predictions for their March Madness run:
First weekend: Houston wins both games by double digits
Houston isn't going to have any trouble cruising past Longwood and whoever they get in game two. Kudos to Longwood on a great season, but they aren't going to become the third 16 seed to take down a one seed. The Cougars will play either Nebraska or Texas A&M in the second round, and the Cornhuskers in particular could cause some issues with their three point shooting if they get hot. Still, Houston is going to be ready to play, and they are better than both of those teams. Expect the Cougars to cruise this weekend.
Second weekend: Houston beats James Madison and Marquette, advances to Final Four
The most bold prediction here is probably having James Madison in the Sweet 16, but still, I'm picking Houston to get out of their region and make it into the Final Four. James Madison is going to pull off a couple of upsets and find themselves in the Sweet 16, but the Cougars will put an end to their Cinderella run. Houston is too good, and they will easily move onto the Elite 8 to take on Marquette.
This is going to be the first sweat for Houston fans. Marquette is very good and they also come from one of the best conferences in the country. Some will say it's top heavy after only getting three teams in March Madness, but the Golden Eagles were playing NCAA Tournament caliber teams all year long. This one could go either way, but I'm picking Houston to make it to the Final Four.
Final Four weekend: Houston loses to UConn in national title game
Houston is going to go on a special run in the NCAA Tournament, but they are going to come up short in the national title game against UConn. The Huskies are the overall one seed for a reason, and they just look too good right now. I've got the Cougars taking down another Big East team, Creighton, in a Final Four slugfest, but the Huskies will cut down the nets on April 8th.
Obviously, as we all know, predicting what happens in the NCAA Tournament is extremely difficult to do. At the end of the day, Houston basketball is 100% capable of making a very deep run in this tournament.
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