Don’t try to sow seed with Sampson
With Cougars projected as a No. 2, a No. 1 in tourney remains possible
Certain things are an absolute guarantee not to elicit a response from Houston men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson.
Want to discuss the difference between no stars, three stars, four stars in recruiting? Take an astronomy class.
Want to talk about national polls? Go to a sports bar.
How about the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings?
“No thoughts at all,” Sampson said.
When pressed about being ranked fourth in the NET, Sampson would not budge. “I’ve got practice today,” he said. “That’s something I can control.”
To no one’s surprise, one of Sampson’s least favorite topics this time of year came up after Saturday’s 78-61 victory over Temple.
Is it time for UH to think about a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament?
“I don’t think that’s ever been in my mindset,” Sampson said.
Entering Thursday’s game against Tulane in New Orleans, the sixthranked Cougars sit atop the American Athletic Conference and are heavy favorites for a third consecutive regular-season title.
But there’s an even bigger prize within reach. They could move up to the No. 1 seed line in the NCAA Tournament.
As of Wednesday, several bracketologists have the Cougars as a No. 2 seed, among them ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm, The Sporting News’ Michael DeCourcy and Shelby Mast, whose Bracket W.A.G. is used by USA Today.
“It’s past time to consider Houston as a serious No. 1 seed candidate,” Lunardi wrote on his Jan. 23 bracketology report.
Why not the Cougars? UH (13-1) has just as strong a case as any team to jump to the one line, a spot achieved only once in program history. UH and Phi Slama Jama, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional, reached the national championship game in 1984.
UH owns Quadrant 1 wins this season over Texas Tech, Boise State and SMU. The only loss is a Q2 to Tulsa on a pair of free
throws with one-tenth of a second remaining on Dec. 29. Three weeks later, the Cougars avenged the loss with a 27-point beatdown of the Golden Hurricane.
UH is playing its best basketball of the season during its current six-game winning streak. The margin in the last four wins: 21, 17, 27, 17.
It should be noted that the current win streak began when Caleb Mills, the AAC’s preseason player of the year, stepped away from the program for personal reasons and eventually announced a transfer to Florida State. Junior guard Quentin Grimes is playing like an
All-America candidate, sophomore guard Marcus Sasser has been deadly from 3-point range, and senior forward Justin Gorham is gobbling up rebounds like Pac-Man.
UH leads the nation in points allowed (56.3 per game) and is second in offensive rebounds per game (15.5), third in opponent field-goal percentage (36.9), sixth in opponent 3-point field-goal percentage (26.1) and seventh in rebounds per game (42.1).
“During the basketball season, your team is a lot like an elevator,” Sampson said recently. “You’re either going up or you’re going down, but you’re never standing still. One of the things that our teams have been known for, forever, is we get better as the season goes on.”
Gonzaga and Baylor, both undefeated, are virtual locks for No. 1 seeds and are likely to spend the remainder of the regular season in a fight for the top overall seed. The other two top seeds are up for grabs. Villanova just resumed games after a 27day coronavirus layoff. Michigan just began an athletics-wide pause that will last until at least Feb. 7 due to confirmed cases of a COVID-19 variant.
Others joining UH as challengers for a No. 1 seed, according to the latest bracket projections, include Alabama, Iowa, Virginia and Texas. The Longhorns lost at home to Oklahoma on Tuesday but still have a chance to impress the committee with seven remaining games against opponents classified as Q1. Same thing goes for the Big Ten, whose champion must navigate one of the top conferences in the country, with 11 teams projected to make the 68-team field, according to Lunardi.
Much of UH’s hopes of a No. 1 seed hinge on avoiding any slip-ups down the stretch. UH is an overwhelming favorite to win its final 10 regular-season
games (a home game against Cincinnati has yet to be rescheduled), according to the analytics website KenPom.com.
CBS Sports analyst Seth Davis said a one-loss UH squad on Selection Sunday (March 14) would warrant consideration for a No. 1 seed. Such a run would require the Cougars to win their final 11 regular-season games and three in the AAC tournament.
“They could run the table, maybe make a play to get a No. 1 seed,” Davis said on a recent telecast of UH’s game at Temple. “If they go into the Selection Show with one loss, they have a chance at a one seed.”
If you want to talk seeds, Sampson might suggest a good gardening class. Otherwise, he’s not giving it any thought.
“If we get better in the areas that we need to be good at,” Sampson said, “all that stuff takes care of itself.”