The top-seeded Houston Cougars have been knocking on the door in recent seasons and now appear primed to make a championship run.
Houston has reached the Sweet 16 the past five times the NCAA Tournament has been played. That includes a Final Four appearance in 2021 and the Elite Eight in 2022.
Last season’s run was sabotaged when All-America point guard Jamal Shead badly sprained his right ankle and missed the final 26 1/2 minutes of a 54-51 loss to Duke in the Sweet 16.
This season, the Cougars feel more battle-tested than ever after going 19-1 in the Big 12 regular season and then winning three more games to claim the conference tournament title. They won at least 30 games for the fourth straight season and are the class of this region.
The second-seeded Tennessee Volunteers were one of the better teams in a Southeastern Conference that was full of top-flight teams. The Volunteers run into offensive hiccups at times, so they clearly fall in line below Houston.
No. 3 seed Kentucky, No. 4 seed Purdue and No. 5 seed Clemson are also in this bracket. And you can’t overlook No. 8 Gonzaga, which has made nine straight Sweet 16s.Purdue lost to UConn in last season’s title game but doesn’t have the same pizzazz, though they still have the same passing wizard in point guard Braden Smith.
TOP SHOT
The old-school coaching methods of Kelvin Sampson resonate with the Cougars, who play their traditional tough defense along with a team-first offensive approach. Four Cougars score in double digits — led by L.J. Cryer’s 15.2 average — and Houston ranks second nationally in scoring defense at 58.5 points per game.
Tennessee will go as far as point guard Zakai Zeigler (13.8 ppg, 7.3 assists) can take the club, because leading scorer Chaz Lanier (17.7) is prone to inconsistency. Kentucky beat a lot of good teams but is short-handed as point guard Lamont Butler (shoulder) is ailing and shooter Jaxson Robinson (wrist) is done for the season.
Guess who doesn’t want to be asked about his first opponent being a double-digit seed? That would be Purdue coach Matt Painter, who saw his Boilermakers lose to such seeds in three straight NCAA tournaments (twice in the first round) prior to last season’s dash to the title game.
GAMES TO WATCH
No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 High PointThere was the embarrassing loss to No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023, the humiliating setback against No. 15 Saint Peter’s in 2022 and the improbable defeat against No. 13 North Texas in 2021. Even back in 2016, there was the stunning double-overtime loss to No. 12 Little Rock. Rest assured High Point wasn’t overly mad to get pitted against Purdue for its first-ever NCAA Tournament game.
