The Houston basketball team was denied a Big 12 tournament championship on Saturday night. Arizona defeated Houston for the conference title, 79-74. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson spoke after the game about how hard it is to win in the Big 12.
“Big 12 is a great league. Coaches are all conditioned to say their league is the best, but not everybody's league is the best,” Sampson said, per PHNX Wildcats.
Kelvin Sampson wants to make one thing clear:
The Big 12 is the BEST conference in America 🏀
📸: @Big12Conference pic.twitter.com/Fctd1p3bpZ
— PHNX Wildcats (@PHNX_Wildcats) March 15, 2026
Sampson went on to say that top to bottom, the Big 12 is the best league in America. The league added eight teams in the last three years: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
In the Big 12 title game, the Cougars came up just short on Saturday. Houston had actually defeated Arizona in last year's tournament championship game. This win was revenge for Arizona's squad.
“They're just resilient, you know? And they just have this unbreakable spirit,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said about his team, per the Associated Press. “These guys do an amazing job of figuring it out in tough moments.”
Houston looked like they could win back-to-back tournament championships. The Cougars outscored Arizona in the second half, 38-35.
“You had the two best teams in the Big 12 fighting down the stretch. Either team could have won the game,” Sampson said. “Sometimes, it comes down to a break. Sometimes, it comes down to a whistle. Sometimes, it comes down to a bounce. When two teams are evenly matched like they were today, that's what it comes down to.”
Following the loss, Houston now waits to see where it will play in the NCAA tournament. The Cougars have a chance at a no. 1 seed, but so do some other teams like Florida.
