The Cougars’ 2020-21 non-conference schedule just got another SEC upgrade, according to a CBS Sports report, after Houston agreed to a home-and-home series with the Alabama Crimson Tide beginning in Tuscaloosa.
Last month, the home-and-home matchup between LSU for the next two years was announced. The Cougars will host the Tigers this coming season at Fertitta Center.
The other SEC school Houston is guaranteed to play as of now in 2020-21 is South Carolina, who the Cougars defeated 76-56 in on the road last season.
Along with LSU, South Carolina and now Alabama, Houston will also play Rice, who the Cougars played in 2019, Coppin State, who they last played in 2018, and Louisiana Lafayette.
The full non-conference schedule has yet to be released, but the Houston coaching staff sees the high-caliber non-conference opponents as a sign of national respect.
“The last three years we’ve finished in the top 25 in the nation,” head coach Kelvin Sampson said on The Chop Shop Monday afternoon. “Our recruiting has gotten better in a new way, teams now see us as a good game.”