Houston Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Cougars

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 08: Marcus Sasser #0 of the Houston Cougars during the first half during their game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Colonial Life Arena on December 08, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /

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Houston Basketball (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

2020-21 Season outlook

Of the five losses to conference opponents, only the 77-71 loss at Connecticut was a loss of more than two points. With Connecticut no longer in the conference and fellow Regular-Season Champions Cincinnati and Tulsa taking a step backward this season, it will be a two-team race between Houston and Memphis, despite the emergence of SMU this season.

Nate Hinton declaring for the NBA Draft and Fabian White Jr suffering an injury prevented a guarantee for Houston to claim the ACC title again this year. Player for player the Cougars are still more talented than the Tigers and will stay on top of the AAC. The opportunity for Houston to break into the top-15 is probably ambitious, but a five seed come tournament time is more than possible.

The Cougars will benefit from the experience of their starting five, as experience can never be underestimated. Quentin Grimes the former No. 8 recruit for Kansas will have the type of season that was expected from him the past two seasons.

Next. Preseason top-25 power rankings for 2020-21. dark

Entering the 2020-21 season Coach Sampson has a combination of high-ceiling freshmen and experienced players in the starting line-up and coming off the bench to work with. This combination will keep the Cougars atop the AAC and relevant in the national rankings.