NCAA Tournament 2019: Purdue, Ja Morant and Virginia among early winners

Houston Cougars

The Houston Cougars are one of the two teams remaining in the Sweet Sixteen that are not from a power five conference. Having played in the American Athletic Conference, many in the media have questioned the strength of competition that the Cougars faced throughout the season. Does winning 31 games in the regular season mean as much when you are playing teams such as Tulsa and East Carolina?

Well, the answer should be clear now and Houston can play with any team in the country. I praised Purdue for having a 19.5 point average margin of victory in their first two Tournament games, but the Cougars are boasting an average margin of victory of 22.5 points per game. They light up the scoreboard. Houston plays a face paced style of play and prefers a game of fast breaks as opposed to the half court offense. When opposing teams play into Houston’s strengths of a fast paced game, it is pretty much a lock for Houston.

The Cougars next match up is against the University of Kentucky and John Calipari will undoubtedly have his team prepared. I know everyone wants to look ahead to a potential shootout between North Carolina and Kentucky that could potentially happen in the Elite 8, but do not overlook Houston as they are rolling at just the right time.