ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi Releases No. 1-Seed Projections
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The most popular sporting event is rapidly approaching as the NCAA Tournament is just weeks away.
As the No. 2 Houston Cougars look to win what would be their third-straight Big 12 regular-season title, they have a key matchup against the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats on Saturday.
Success at this level has become an expectation under head coach Kelvin Sampson, but the Cougars are still chasing an elusive national title. Since taking over as head coach in 2014-15, Sampson has led the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament seven times, with the past three tournaments seeing the Cougars notch one of the No. 1 seeds.
As projected on Thursday evening by ESPN's NCAA Tournament guru Joe Lunardi, the Cougs are expected to make it four straight years of securing one of the top four seeds in the tournament.
"Mock 1-seeds (in order): Michigan, Duke, Arizona, Houston," wrote Lunardi on X.
Now, Houston fans would love to secure a top seed regardless, but it does have to serve as some bit of motivation to see that the Wildcats are still viewed as the superior team.
Aside from standing within the Big 12 and AP Poll, it appears Saturday's matchup will also play a huge role in deciding the order of the No. 1 seeds in this year's NCAA Tournament. Ironically, both Arizona and Houston have faced adversity this month in particular.
Leading up to Saturday's clash of the titans, the Wildcats are relatively fresh off of their only two losses of the year. In the span of a week or so, Arizona went from being the No. 1-ranked team in the country with an undefeated record to suffering back-to-back losses to No. 9 Kansas and No. 16 Texas Tech.
As for Houston, they were riding a six-game winning streak into Monday's clash with No. 6 Iowa State, but they ended up falling 70-67.
Although Lunardi seems to favor the Wildcats, the oddsmakers over at DraftKings are giving Houston the edge as 5.5-point favorites. ESPN's Matchup Predictor gives the Cougars an even bigger edge, as Houston is viewed as having a 64.1% chance of winning on Saturday. Both teams are 11-2 in conference play, which means the winner will get a bit of breathing room atop the standings.
For those wanting to tune in to what could be the game of the year, it will tip at 3:00 p.m. ET at the Fertitta Center and will air on ABC.
