HOUSTON EARNS NO.1 SEED
Here are the keys to another Cougar's conference championship
Mar 10, 2022, 12:57 pm
The Coogs are back in action this Friday at noon. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.
Sampson: A lot of coaches are scared of confrontation, I’m not
After finishing the regular season with a 26-5 (15-3 conference) record, the Houston Cougars look to earn their second consecutive American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament championship.
Last year, this team won their conference tournament, earned a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament and finished with a Final Four appearance. This squad looks to continue that trend as the #18 ranked Cougars obtained a number one seed in the AAC.
Although Houston finished with a better record last season, this year’s team had to overcome injury issues in addition to losing four of their five starters from last year's Final Four squad.
Coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff wasted no time during the offseason as they added three key players from the transfer portal in Josh Carlton from Connecticut, Taze Moore by way of CSU Bakersfield and Kyler Edwards via Texas Tech.
The trio started in almost every game and developed instant chemistry in coach Sampson’s system.
Junior guard Marcus Sasser finished last season as the team’s second leading scorer (13.7 PPG) and was in position to take over as the number one offensive option, but suffered a season ending toe injury in December.
A similar fate happened to sophomore guard Tramon Mark who played in seven games before missing the remainder of the season due to shoulder surgery.
Without their two best guards, coach Sampson inserted sophomore Jamel Shed into the starting lineup. The Texas native was no stranger to the court, as he played a significant amount of minutes last season off the bench during their Final Four run. It was a seamless transition to have Shed take Mark’s spot in the lineup and become the floor general Houston needed.
Replacing the high scoring Sasser would be accomplished by committee and not one particular individual stepping up. The aforementioned transfer trio of Carlton, Edwards and Moore all had their spectacular performances throughout the season and proved why they were perfect fits for Sampson's system.
The stellar showcases of the transfer trio and the improved play of fifth-year senior Fabian White Jr. put Houston over the top most games.
The 6’8” forward is the longest tenured Cougar on this squad and averaged a career high 13.2 points per game this season.
White came off the bench last season as he was recovering from a torn ACL and proved to be an integral part of Houston’s depth during their Final Four run.
This season saw White return to the starting lineup and showcase why he continues to be a threat on offense and defense, as he averaged a team best 1.6 blocks per game.
It took no time for this new group of starters to develop chemistry in coach Sampson’s defensive first style of play.
"These guys have worked hard," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. "They've listened. They've followed instructions. They believe in the culture of our program. They've embraced it."
Houston outscored their opponents by double digits in 22 of their 26 victories this season, and reached as high as the number six ranked team in the country. This massive success put Houston atop the AAC early on and led to a regular season conference championship.
The AAC Tournament will begin on Thursday at Dickies Arena in Ft. Worth and will conclude on Sunday.
Houston’s first game will be Friday at noon as they await the winner between East Carolina and Cincinnati.
The Cougars won all but three of their conference games this season as they lost on the road against SMU, and suffered a season sweep at the hands of the Memphis Tigers.
For some reason, coach Penny Hardaway’s team seems to play their best ball against Houston year after year. This season Memphis won at the Fertitta Center by 10 points on February 12th, and defeated the Cougars again on Sunday at home by 14 points, Houston’s worst loss this season.
The latter could be explained due to the fact the Cougars locked up their regular season conference championship earlier in the week, but a coach Sampson led team wouldn’t just throw away a meaningless game at the hands of their rival to end the season.
Memphis possesses the biggest threat for Houston to win back-to-back AAC tournament championships, but the Cougars haven't lost to a conference opponent three consecutive times in a season since coach Sampson’s first year as the head coach in 2015 against Tulsa.
As long as Houston doesn't overlook any of their conference foes (especially Memphis) it's safe to say that the Cougars should leave Ft. Worth on Sunday as conference champions once again and earn a spot to their 4th NCAA Tournament in five seasons.
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Expectations
The Texans are favored to win the AFC South for a third straight season with a team led by young stars quarterback C.J. Stroud and defensive end Will Anderson. Stroud’s strong first two years helped the Texans turn things around and this year they’ll try to reach the playoffs in three straight seasons for the first time in franchise history. Stroud will be directing a new offense led by first-time offensive coordinator Nick Caley, who took over after Bobby Slowik was fired this offseason following Houston’s loss to the Chiefs in the divisional round. General manager Nick Caserio also beefed up the team’s receiving corps, led by Nico Collins, by adding veteran Christian Kirk and drafting Jayden Higgins in the second round and Jaylin Noel in the third. Coach DeMeco Ryans has vowed the offensive line will be better this season after Stroud was sacked 52 times last season, which was second-most in the league. But it’s difficult to see how his protection will be better after they traded left tackle Laremy Tunsil and didn’t make any big moves to replace him. Defensively, Anderson should take another step forward in his second year playing with veteran Danielle Hunter after the third-overall pick in the 2023 draft had 17 sacks combined in his first two seasons. Cornerback Derek Stingley returns to lead a talented young secondary after earning first team AP All-Pro honors last season when he had five interceptions and defended 18 passes.
New faces
OC Nick Caley, WR Jayden Higgins, WR Christian Kirk, WR Jaylin Noel, LT Cam Robinson, RB Nick Chubb, RT Aireontae Ersery, LG Laken Tomlinson, C Jake Andrews.
Key losses
LT Laremy Tunsil, WR John Metchie III, G Kenyon Green, TE Brevin Jordan, CB Eric Murray, WR Robert Woods, CB Kris Boyd.
Strengths
Stroud and Houston’s stacked receiving group should be the stars of the team this season. The 2023 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year has been great in his first two seasons to bring the Texans back into contention after an awful stretch. His interception rate was up last season but he’s looking for improvement this season in Caley’s offense, which he has described as “exciting.” He’ll have plenty of strong targets to throw to, led by Collins, who had a second straight 1,000-yard season last year despite missing five games with injuries. He’ll be joined by Kirk, who should fill in at the slot with Tank Dell likely to miss all season recovering from an injury he suffered in December. Higgins and Noel come to Houston after combining for 2,377 yards receiving and 17 touchdowns last season at Iowa State.
Weaknesses
It’s hard to see how the offensive line will be improved this season with Tunsil gone to Washington. Though he was penalty-prone, he was the team’s most consistent lineman. They completely revamped the line after his trade and return just one starter from last year’s group. They’ll likely rely on rookie Ersery to protect Stroud’s blind side after taking him in the second round of the draft. He started 38 games at left tackle over three seasons at Minnesota. Veteran Tytus Howard returns at right tackle after starting 16 games there last season. The center is Jake Andrews in his first year in Houston and he returns after missing all of last season with an injury before being released by the Patriots. Left guard Laken Tomlinson and right guard Ed Ingram are also new to the team.
Camp development
Houston’s secondary sustained a big blow in camp when safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson suffered a leg injury. The injury isn’t season-ending but he is likely to miss significant time. Gardner-Johnson is in his first year in Houston after he was acquired from the Eagles in March in exchange for left guard Kenyon Green. He was expected to be the team’s starting free safety after the Texans lost Eric Murray in free agency to the Jaguars. The Texans will also be without backup Jimmie Ward indefinitely after he was placed on the commissioner exempt list Tuesday as he faces a felony domestic violence charge after a June arrest.
Fantasy player to watch
Collins should have another big year after finishing with more than 1,000 yards receiving in each of the last two seasons. He’s had 15 touchdowns combined in the last two seasons despite missing seven games with injuries.
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Win Super Bowl: 35-1.