A season after reaching the NCAA Tournament national championship game, the Houston Cougars have once again looked like one of the better teams in the country during the early stages of the 2025-26 season. Houston is coming off a 2-1 finish at the Players Era tournament, and head coach Kelvin Sampson spoke about his mindset as the Cougars head to the next phase of their season, as per Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68.
“Some teams play their best basketball in November. I want to play our worst basketball in November. We just need to stay with it,” Sampson said. “We’re going to be a good team eventually.”
Houston finished their Players Era schedule on a high note, defeating Notre Dame, 66-56, and drawing a funny declaration from Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry. Overall, the Cougars are 7-1, but are still searching for more consistency in trying to reach last season’s level of success.
In comparison, Houston is already off to a better start than last season when they were 4-3 after their first seven games. At 7-1, their only loss so far has come to Tennessee while at the Players Era tournament. The Cougars have two incredibly talented freshmen in Chris Cenac Jr. and Kingston Flemings.
This is Kevin Sampson’s 12th season at the helm as Houston head coach, and he oversaw the Cougars’ move from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12 in 2023. During that time, he’s led Houston to seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including one two Final Fours, three Elite Eights and six Sweet 16s in addition to last year’s title game appearance.
