Bracketology 2020: Florida, Houston, and USC among biggest winners

Houston Cougars – 14-4 (4-1)

Current NET ranking (34)

Houston had been flying under the radar a bit in the AAC compared to both Memphis and Wichita State. But the Cougars did get some attention last week, albeit in a bad way by falling on the road to Tulsa by a couple of points.

The loss to the Golden Hurricanes, who actually are tied for first in the conference standings, is by no means an awful loss on the resume. The problem though is that it highlights an overall resume for Houston that lacks significant victories. Washington has had their struggles since losing starting point guard Quade Green, while that loss to Oklahoma State has looked bad since their winless start in Big 12 play.

The AAC doesn’t have many opportunities for resume builders but these past few days represented a big shot for the Cougars to remain in the NCAA Tournament projected field; SMU and Wichita State on the road. They took care of the Mustangs at home and more importantly beat a Shockers squad that’s incredibly tough to beat at their place.

Thanks to a balanced effort on offense, Houston adds a Quad-1 resume builder and has Wichita State as their best win of the season. And they still have a return matchup with the Shockers, as well as two games against Memphis still on the resume. Even had the Cougars lost both games this past week, they still probably would’ve been projected to still be in the field. Now, they have plenty of breathing room to afford a couple of bad losses without getting nervous.