The men’s basketball team has reached the halfway point of conference play and looks set to make back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in 35 years.
The Cougars are currently 21-1 and are tied with Cincinnati for first in the American Athletic Conference. With several marquee wins on the resume, head coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad seems to have another bid to March Madness wrapped up.
According to Team Rankings, UH has a 99.9 percent chance to hear its name called come Selection Sunday on March 17.
Team Rankings gives Houston a slight edge in earning the automatic bid via the AAC Tournament over Cincinnati with a 33.7 percent chance compared to 31.25 percent for the Bearcats. In the Feb. 3 bracketology from Team Rankings, Houston is predicted to be a No. 3 seed.
Bracket Matrix, a website that compiles and categorizes various bracketology pages on their accuracy over the past five seasons, has Houston poised to receive a No. 3 seed as well, based off averages.
Bracketville, the most accurate of the 127 pages with three or more years of bracketology experience currently posting, positions the Cougars at a No. 3 seed taking on No. 14 seed Georgia State in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If UH came out with a win, it would match up with the winner of Kansas State or Davidson in this particular bracket.
The sixth-most accurate bracket on the list, OneManCommittee’s, again slots the Cougars in the No. 3 spot in Tulsa, this time taking on Yale. A victory would result in Houston taking on either Maryland or Wofford.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has the Cougars as a No. 3 seed in Tulsa with a matchup against Radford. An opening round victory would see the Cougars take on either Florida State or the winner of Seton Hall and Alabama.
As for Joe Lunardi of ESPN, Houston is a No. 4 seed in Salt Lake City, where it would take on Murray State with a potential meeting against the winner of Iowa State and New Mexico State.