Sampson: UH can only gain from AAC tourney
With NCAA Tournament berth a certainty, Coogs can relax, focus on a run in March
This week, the University of Houston will arrive at the Happiest Place on Earth with smiles on their faces. With good reason. This time around, there’s no stress, no anxiety, no weight of the world on their shoulders to make a final impression with the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Or the predicament of eight years ago, when the Cougars had to win four games in four days to grab Conference USA’s automatic bid.
No matter the outcome, whether an opening-game loss or a march to the American Athletic Conference championship game, the Cougars are a lock for the NCAA Tournament.
Hard to say without pinching yourself, isn’t it?
Say it slowly: The Cougars are in the NCAA Tournament.
“There are three teams in this league that I think are safely in,” coach Kelvin Sampson said of Houston, Cincinnati and Wichita State representing the AAC in the NCAA Tournament. “That’s just a statement. It’s not being braggadocious. It’s just reality. I think we’re in the Tournament. I think our body of work in November, December, January, February, we haven’t
lost two games in a row all year.
“Once we get to conference season, there are a lot of questions that have been answered. Your team goes through a process of hoping, thinking, knowing. You hope you can win. You start thinking you can win. And you know you can win. By the time we got to January, we knew we could win.”
At 24-6, UH had its best regular season since finishing as Southwest Conference cochampions in 1992. The Cougars are projected as an NCAA No. 6 or No. 7 seed entering Friday’s AAC tournament quarterfinals in Orlando, Fla., against Central Florida or East Carolina.
Late Monday night, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi was asked which team could “make a monumental leap” in terms of seeding — similar to Michigan winning four games in a row to capture the Big Ten’s automatic bid — before Selection Sunday.
“I’m going to go Houston,” Lunardi said. “They’ve beaten Wichita State and Cincinnati. They finished tied with Wichita State. Get them on a neutral court, Rob Gray, they can really score. Say what you want about Kelvin Sampson, but he’s got tournament history in a positive way.”
Barring a magical run by a team in the AAC tournament, the league will land at least three Tournament bids for the third time in its five-year history. Cincinnati (27-4) is projected as a two seed by ESPN and CBS Sports, which would be the highest seed ever (the previous was fourth-seeded Louisville in 2014) for an AAC team, and Wichita State (24-6) is projected as a four.
“This year, we expect three bids, it certainly looks pretty good,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said. “And we expect much higher seeds than we’ve had in the past. We would like to make a deeper run in the postseason.”
Aresco said the rise of UH has been a boost for the league, along with the arrival of Wichita State from the Missouri Valley Conference and the consistency of Cincinnati.
It also comes at a time SMU and Central Florida dealt with injuries and past Tournament teams Connecticut and Memphis had down years.
“I can’t overstate the importance of having teams like Houston come back and regain past prominence,” Aresco said.
Aresco added the AAC can become a “six- or eight-bid league” in a few years.
“We knew the perception of our league would change,” Aresco said of adding Wichita State. “I was a little disappointed that the perception hasn’t been better, because the last couple of years we’ve had some really good teams. We really didn’t get the credit. Wichita State galvanized the league. We think the league is on the cusp of being one of the best leagues in America.”
On a conference call Tuesday, AAC coaches from the top teams agreed there isn’t much, in terms of seeding, to be gained from the conference tournament. Nor should they be penalized for a poor showing.
“I think the conference tournament can only help you,” Sampson said. “I don’t think the conference tournament can hurt you. Teams on the bubble can play themselves in.
“If you’re in the Tournament, I don’t think it’s going to change anything, unless you are coming out of nowhere and catch lighting in a bottle and win four games. I don’t know how many teams do that.”
UH does not have to worry about being one of those teams.
The pressure is off, at least for this weekend.