With the Houston basketball team preparing for Idaho in the first game of its March Madness journey, the program could have a significant advantage if it were to make it far in the tournament. As the Houston basketball team lost to Arizona in the Big 12 Final, the roster is looking to bounce back with a hopeful far run in the national tourney.
The advantage could be that if the Cougars were to make it to the Sweet Sixteen and then advance to the Elite Eight, both games would be in Houston. However, college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg would warn about the “pressure” that can come with the March Madness of playing at home for the Cougars.
“There is obviously some benefit to being close to home — travel, familiarity, Kellogg said, via The Houston Chronicle. “But there are some challenges with being close to home. The pressure, the expectation that because you are a really good team and you’ve earned the right to be where you are, that it’s an automatic win for you because you’re home.”
“And so that can cut both ways,” Kellogg continued. “I think because of the culture, the coaching and leadership of Kelvin and his staff, the quality of the players, I think it’ll be fine. But one of the beautiful things about this time of year is you find out how much you don’t know and how much you can’t predict what’s going to unfold.”
Houston basketball ‘earned the right' to potentially play at home
With some arguing that it is an unfair advantage that there is a chance that the Houston basketball team would play close to home, Bruce Pearl would defend it, saying that with them being the two-seed, “they've earned the right.”
“Why were they in the South? I think Florida may have been the last 1-seed. Houston may have been the top 2-seed, and if that’s the case, I think they definitely earned the right,” Pearl said.
At any rate, before the Cougars think about the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, they have to handle business against Idaho on Thursday night.
