Houston Cougars (0-3 in Quad 1 Opportunities)
I'll be honest: when I initially made this list, Houston wasn't on it. The Cougars have an impressive set of metrics: they are currently ranked 4th in the NET rankings and listed as the country's third-best team, according to KenPom. Barttorvic's T-Rankings go even further, ranking Houston as the best team in the country as of Saturday. Houston is generally considered to be a top-four seed in ESPN's NCAA tournament projections. Based on all of this, I assumed the Cougars already had multiple Quad 1 wins.
Yet Kelvin Sampson's team is currently 0-3 in Quad 1 games, with all three losses coming on neutral courts and by five points or less. They are 12-0 in all other games this season, including four Quad 2 wins. The Big 12 will offer them 10 more Quad 1 opportunities, so it seems likely a good win will come sooner than later.
Their NCAA tournament entry is secure at this point in the season, but they definitely will need some better wins to get a top-four seed and validate what the metrics are already saying about this team.
Next Quad 1 Opportunity: Away at Kansas on 1/25