3 Positives & 1 Big Question After Houston Cougars Loss in the Sweet 16
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The team competing in the national championship game will soon be decided later tonight as the Final Four games are set to take place on Saturday night, as the UConn Huskies, Illinois Fighting Illini, Arizona Wildcats and Michigan Wolverines all battle for a spot in the title game.
Not in the mix, however, is the Houston Cougars, as just a year ago, head coach Kelvin Sampson and his squad were just a possession away from claiming the program's first national championship. Now, a year later, the Cougars are not even in the running.
The Cougars season ended abruptly in a difficult manner as the Coogs cruised to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament and then hit a wall against the Fighting Illini as they came up short 65-55 on the back of a rough shooting night. Looking at the Cougars 2025-26 season retrospectively, here are three positives and one major drawback.
Positive: Consistency Remains
Heading into this season, the Cougars were losing plenty of talent from their national championship runner-up squad, including J'Wan Roberts and LJ Cryer. Sampson was going to have his hands full, looking to get his team primed for another run through the Big 12 and the NCAA Tournament.
Sampson did just that as the Cougars continued to be the model of consistency in college basketball after ending the season with a 30-7 record and in the gauntlet of the Big 12, finished second in the regular season with a 14-2 record, and as the runners-up in the Big 12 Tournament title game.
And the Cougars went into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed and made their seventh straight appearance in the Sweet Sixteen.
Positive: Kingston Flemings More than Delivered
The Cougars already had plenty of talent in the backcourt, headed into the season with the return of Emanuel and Milos Uzan, but the guard play for the Cougars received a huge boost from freshman Kingston Flemings.
In a backcourt with two talented veterans, the five-star freshmen started in every ballgame for Houston and played up to what his star rating indicated. Flemings ended the season as the Cougars leading scorer, averaging 16.1 points per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field to go along with 4.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
For his season, Flemings became the only freshman in Cougars history to be named an All-American after earning First Team All-American honors by The Sporting News, to go along with his All-Big 12 First Team and the All-Freshman Team selections.
Positive: Kelvin Sampson Will Return
With the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, Sampson wraps up his 37th season as a head coach, and 12 of those seasons have been on the sidelines for the Cougars. After a loss in the NCAA Tournament, any long-time head coach may have his future in question.
Houston fans can rest easy for a little while longer as Sampson committed to come back for his 13th season as the Cougars head coach, telling CBS's Jon Rothstein that he will return for the 2026-27 season. And with Sampson still donning the sidelines for the Cougars, they'll always have a chance to compete for a national title.
Big Negative: Coming Up Short Again
While the positives were plentiful throughout the Coogs' season, the year didn't conclude as many had hoped, with the season being cut short in the Sweet Sixteen. A year after finishing as runners-up, the Cougars were unable to put themselves in contention.
The national title continues to elude the Cougars despite having multiple deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, and in a legendary coaching career for Sampson, he is still missing his crowning moment despite multiple shots.
