The Houston Cougars are back in the NCAA Tournament, this time as a No. 1 seed. It is already a huge accomplishment for the program, as they have done so in only their first season in the Big 12.
But it's never just about proving themselves in a major conference; Houston is eyeing to win it all in the Big Dance.
Back in the 2022-23 college basketball season, the Cougars, in their final season in the AAC, went to the national tournament as a fifth seed and reached the Sweet 16 round where they fell prey to the Miami Hurricanes. Will they be able to have a better finish this time around?
March Madness is full of traps and it's never going to be easy topping such a wild tournament that is filled with just as many giants as giant-slayers, but Houston should be confident in its chances. It has the tools to beat any team on any given night or day. Having won 30 games and lost just four times thus far this season, Houston is rightfully considered one of the favorites to win the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
With that said, here are three reasons why Houston will be the last team standing.
Houston's defense is a problem
Anyone who will come across the Cougars in the NCAA Tournament will have to be wary of Houston's defense. There is arguably no team in the nation with a scarier defense than what Houston brings to the court this season. The Cougars have regularly suffocated the attacks of their opponents, and that is clearly underscored and supported by the fact that they are No. 1 in the nation with just 57.0 points allowed per outing.
Sure, Houston is also abiding by one of the slowest pace in Division I basketball, as it is 348th overall in terms of adjusted tempo, but the Cougars are also limiting opponents to just 44.0 effective field goal percentage. The Cougars drain the clock and force opponents into taking tough shots. They challenge well at the rim and force plenty of turnovers, relatiely speaking. Houston carries a 9.5 percent block rate and 21.3 percent defensive turnover rate to March Madness, both top-10 numbers nationally.
The Cougars struggled in the Big 12 title game against the Iowa State Cyclones, but even in that game, they posted a 98.7 adjusted defensive rating. They have not posted a worse defensive rating than 98.7 in each of their last five outings and the only times this season that it got over 100 was during their losses to the Kansas Jayhawks and the Oklahoma Sooners.
Don't forget about the Cougars' offense
Given Houston's excellence on defense, it can be easy to forget about what the Cougars can do on the other side of the floor. Even though Houston is only 160th in the nation with an average of 73.0 points per game, they are actually one of the few teams who have cracked both the top 20 in adjusted offensive and defensive ratings. Among teams that made it to the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Houston is just one of the only four (Auburn, Arizona, and UConn are the others) who are inside both those top 20 rankings.
The Cougars are always going to be a defense-first team, but they can also flex their muscles on offense, in part by doing the dirty work on the glass. Houston is shooting just 43.4 percent from the field this season, but they are averaging 12.4 offensive rebounds per game as well. And another way the Cougars make up for their mediocre shooting is by taking care of the leather. They have an elite ball security, ranking third in the nation with just an 11.3 percent turnover rate.
The Cougars have Kelvin Sampson
Sampson has the Cougars absolutely ready for March Madness, notwithstanding Houston's loss to Iowa State.
“We're going to ride this train as far as it goes,” Sampson said (h/t Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle) ahead of their first-round matchup against 16-seed Longwood Lancers, who got hot in the Big South Tournament to book a ticket to the Big Dance.
“Anybody can lose a game in this tournament, but we're sure as hell not scared of it,” added Sampson.
Sampson is one of the best head coaches in college basketball of this era, and he's proven that year after year with Houston. Despite the switch to a conference that was supposedly going to expose the Cougars, Houston only got more terrifying after an exceptional debut in the Big 12. Sampson definitely has a lot to do with that.
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