Big 12 Conference Play Preview For Houston Basketball

No. 8 Houston basketball has wrapped up their non-conference schedule with a 12-1 record. This was the second-most regular-season non-conference wins in program history. While the Cougars definitely tested themselves, it’s about to get a whole lot more challenging. 

The Big 12 is definitely the best basketball conference in the country, with No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 Iowa State, and No. 10 BYU in the top 10 besides Houston. 

The Cougars will play all of them throughout the Big 12 slate. While Houston basketball is the back-to-back Big 12 regular-season champions and won the Big 12 tournament title last season, it will be interesting to see how this new-look team with two freshmen starting will handle the competition. 

Non-conference recap

Houston faced No. 18 Arkansas a few weeks back and dominated 94-85. They also beat then No. 21 Auburn in Birmingham as well as Florida State in the Houston Hoops Showdown. The Cougars participated in the Player’s Era Tournament and beat Syracuse as well as Notre Dame, but took a last-minute loss to No. 19 Tennessee. 

Head coach Kelvin Sampson has made sure over the past two seasons that his team got tested early. It paid dividends last season. It may be a little different in 2026. Houston basketball won its last game over Middle Tennessee, but it was the closest non-conference game margin in the last few seasons.

The Cougars won 69-60, but trailed for the majority of the first half, and the margin was under 10 points near the end. Houston shot poorly, but made use of the turnovers forced as usual. 

While it looked like Houston had greatly improved after the win over Arkansas, there was much more improvement needed. The Cougars have been getting out-rebounded in many of their recent games, a trend that wasn’t spotted last year or the year prior. Their defense is still working to get connected.

Offensively, they are likely better than years past, with freshman point guard Kingston Flemings adding an elite scoring option, as well as freshman stretch big Chris Cenac Jr. adding versatility on that side of the floor. 

It will be hard for Houston basketball to match last year’s 19-1 record, especially the 10-0 on the road.

Here’s the Big 12 slate for the Cougars: 

At Cincinnati, Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. on FOX

Vs No. 15 Texas Tech, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. on FS1

At Baylor, Jan. 10 at 12 p.m. on Peacock

West Virginia, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. on FS1

Arizona State, Jan. 18 on ESPN

At Texas Tech, Jan. 24 at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN

At TCU, Jan. 28 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2

Cincinnati, Jan. 31 at 11 a.m. on FOX

UCF, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. on FS1

At BYU, Feb. 7 at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN

At Utah, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. on ESPN

Kansas State, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. on Peacock

At Iowa State, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. on ESPN

Arizona, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. on ABC

At Kansas, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. on ESPN

Colorado, Feb. 28 at 11 a.m. on ESPN

Baylor, Mar. 4 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2

At Oklahoma State, Mar. 7 at 11 a.m. on CBS Sports Network

Key parts of the schedule

The biggest moments of the schedule will likely be during the last week of February. This is the most difficult part of the schedule, with two road games and one home game against the best competition in the Big 12. Houston takes on No. 3 Iowa State in the most difficult road game of the season in Ames on Big Monday. 

Following that, later in the week, Houston takes on No. 1 Arizona at home in an ABC showcase. The gauntlet three-game schedule wraps up with another Big Monday game, this time in Allen Fieldhouse against Kansas. If Houston gets out of these three games with a winning record, that is an excellent sign.

Besides that, the two games against Texas Tech will be a dogfight. That matchup has turned into the biggest rivalry game for Houston basketball. The game in Provo against BYU will also be an immense road environment. If the Cougars can end up winning the Big 12 again with this team, the sky will truly be the limit.