We are all old enough to remember when Houston went to the Big 12 after dominating the American conference for so long. Everyone heard the theories that it was the end of Houston Basketball as we know it, they would never be good again, and they would get buried by the actual good teams they had to play. Those were crazy times; since they moved to the Big 12 two seasons ago, they have won the regular season title in the Big 12 twice, and this year, they were able to complete the sweep and won the regular season and the Big 12 conference championship. The Houston Cougars grabbed auto bid number 17 into the NCAA Tournament.
Houston didn’t need to win the Autobid as they were already going to get into the NCAA Tournament as an at large. The Cougars enter the tournament at 30-4 and 19-1 in the deep Big 12. The Cougars are making their 4th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and have still yet to get that elusive National Championship, but have made a Final Four in the 2020-2021 season.
It should come as no surprise that the Cougars received a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It is their third straight 1 seed and they are going to be a very trendy pick to win the whole thing. The roster is stacked, they have a legendary coach, and the ones seed this season are a step above everyone else. This is the best Houston team that Kelvin Sampson has ever had, and that is saying something. Here are some reasons that the Cougars will win a game in the NCAA Tournament.
Defense
If you have watched Houston play under Kelvin Sampson, it should come as no surprise that they are consistently one of the best defensive teams in the country. The Cougars can lock in and make it impossible to score. Houston comes in, allowing 58.5 points per game, and does it by packing the paint and allowing nothing at the rim. The Cougars force teams into tough shots and force turnovers to get easy baskets in transition. It is hard to describe how good Houston is on defense because no one has seen this type of defense in a long time. The defense is just like the old Virginia teams who made it impossible to score. Not being able to score wasn’t bad enough. Houston allows 51 shots per game, and are currently the number 1 ranked defense on KenPom. There are many times when a team won’t even get a shot up against the defense.
Three Point Shooting
The defense for Houston is just as good as it always was, but the thing that sets this Cougars team apart from the rest of the other coach Sampson-coached teams is this team’s ability to shoot threes. Houston doesn’t play fast and, in fact, plays at one of the slowest paces in the country, so they don’t get a ton of possessions and only get about 20 three-point shots per game. Even though they don’t take a lot of them they make a lot of them for a 38% clip. The Cougars have three starters who are all shooting well over 40% from deep, and when they are hitting threes and locked in on defense, they are awfully hard to beat. Their ability to shoot the ball from deep is what could get Houston into the Final Four and beyond. The Cougars have not had this many weapons under Sampson and that is dangerous for the rest of the country.
LJ Cryer
The Cougars are loaded with talent, but Cryer is the one guy who can put the team on his back and carry them to the later rounds. Cryer is one of the top 5 guards in the country and won a National Championship when he was at Baylor. Cryer has made 100 threes this season and is arguably the best shooter in the country. If he is open he is going to hit the shot. The guard is the focal point of a very talented team, and the offense runs through him. If the guard continues to play like he has all season the Cougars have a very good chance to make the National Championship and bring the title back to Houston. He is going to be the best player on the floor most nights.
It is hard to believe that with as much success as Houston has had over the last five years they have only made one Final Four. As a one seed they are going to win a game in the NCAA Tournament and probably win multiple games. Houston is a favorite to win the National Title.