LET THE MADNESS BEGIN

UH lands its highest seed in 35 years; PV in First Four

First stop for the Houston Cougars: Tulsa.

Awarded the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Regional, UH is heading to Oklahoma to play Georgia State at 6:20 p.m Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Houston takes a 31-3 record into the Big Dance after losing 69-57 to Cincinnati on Sunday in the American Athletic Conference tournament final at Memphis, Tenn. A win over the Sun Belt Conference champion Panthers (24-9) on Friday would give the Cougars a Sunday matchup against the winner of Iowa State-Ohio State.

If UH is to make to Minneapolis for its first Final Four since reaching three in a row during the Phi Slama Jama days of 1982-84, it might have to get by two of college basketball’s most pedigreed programs. North Carolina and Kentucky are seeded first and second in the Midwest Regional, looming as potential opponents for the Cougars during the Tournament’s second weekend.

Other Texas schools in the Tournament are Texas Tech (No. 3 in the West), Baylor (No. 9 in the West), Abilene Christian (No. 15 in the Midwest) and Prairie View A&M, which plays Farleigh Dickinson in a First Four game at 5:40 p.m. Tuesday at Dayton, Ohio, to determine the West’s No. 16 seed.

Jon Shapley / Staff photographer UH graduate Barbara Kelley cheers the Cougars’ NCAA Tournament destination during a watch party at the Fertitta Center.

Steve Gonzales / Staff photographer Prairie View A&M players erupt as they learn they will play a First Four game against Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.