Bracketology: Houston projected as No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament
It's never too early to look ahead to the best event of the sports year - the NCAA Tournament.
Joe Lunardi's latest ESPN Bracketology update features nine teams from the Big 12, including Houston and Kansas as No. 1 seeds.
Lunardi has Houston as the top seed in West Region, playing in the Wichita pod vs. No. 16 Colgate. Kansas is projected to be the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, also in the Wichita pod for the first two rounds.
Looking at Houston's projected path to the Final Four, they would have to go through the Mississippi State vs. BYU winner, followed by No. 4 Creighton and No. 2 Gonzaga (assuming the top seeds advance. A Houston vs. Gonzaga matchup in the Elite Eight would be must-see TV.
The other two teams projected to be top seeds are Alabama (South Region) and Duke (East Region).
The SEC and Big Ten have the most conference bids in Lunardi's projections with 10 teams each. The ACC has six, the Big East five, the WCC two and the Atlantic 10 two.
The Final Four is behind held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, a three-hour drive from Houston's campus. The Cougars have never won a national championship, and haven't been to the title game since the Phi Slama Jama days 40 years ago.
But this is arguably Kelvin Sampson's most talented and experienced team. The Cougars are one of the national championship betting favorites with 10-1 odds to win the title. The only team with better odds is Duke at 9.5-1.
Houston has a preseason scrimmage at Texas A&M on Sunday, then officially opens its season on Nov. 4 at home against Jackson State.
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Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.