Houston Cougars Add Special Basketball Uniform For Big 12 Play
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Houston Cougars basketball is quite particular about the uniforms that they wear during games. Chief of staff Lauren Sampson has said in the past that they are superstitious about their color choices. The Cougars have not donned their usual red since 2014, nor do they plan to restart any time soon.
Houston blue was a new uniform concept that the University launched during the 2023-24 athletics season with the football team. It, of course, paid homage to the original Houston Oilers uniforms and quickly became extremely famous and a fan favorite. There was even a whole saga with a lawsuit from the NFL requesting Houston not wear them.
Houston made some changes to their blue and brought it back the next season, making Coog fans extremely excited. Not only would the football team wear it, but the powder blue was brought to the volleyball, basketball, baseball, and softball teams. All the programs would wear it for a Big 12 game against a Texas rival.
The Houston blue tradition continued for this year as well, with the football team wearing it against Texas Tech. Now, it’s time for basketball. Here is the latest uniform change for the Cougars.
A New Kind of Houston Blue Uniform
We know what all @UHouston fans want for the holidays!
— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) December 12, 2025
Order yours today & join us as Coogs debut them on January 13 in Fertitta Center#ForTheCity x #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/2ZGj2NwGX9
On Friday, UH basketball unveiled their special blue uniform for this season, except there was not much blue. It was primarily a white uniform, with key outlines, numbers, and margins in powder blue. The final product received a great initial reaction from fans. The mix of blue in key spots with white all around made a clean look that will stand out nicely on the Fertitta Center court.
Houston will wear these on January 13th against West Virginia, breaking the initial rule of wearing it against Texas opponents only.
These uniforms are already available at retail stores now. Why did Houston make the decision to change the design?
The first reason likely being Houston has not played well or has a winning record in the all-blue uniforms. The Cougars lost to Texas Tech for their only Big 12 loss of the season, and just the seventh loss in Fertitta Center history.
Football is 1-2 in the uniforms, while volleyball, women’s basketball, and softball have not had much luck. Baseball was able to beat Arizona last year in the blues. Houston’s overall record with this color is now 4-7.
Fans have started to believe it had bad luck, and with UH basketball being superstitious, a change is not surprising.
Powder blue has been an iconic color for the city of Houston and its history, and the Cougars sporting it has been a very popular choice. Even though there was a modification, the look is quite sharp.
Maanav Gupta is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He graduated from the University of Houston in the summer of 2025 with his bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in Spanish. Gupta spent three years at the student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, and also covered the 2025 Final Four and National Championship as Houston beat writer for College Basketball Review. He also has his own YouTube channel, Maanav’s Sports Talk, where he has interviewed professional athletes and broadcasters like Jim Nantz, Jose Altuve, J.J. Watt, Rich Eisen, and Alperen Sengun. Gupta was also a contributor to the Houston athletic program as a student. You can find Gupta on X, Instagram and TikTok @MGSportsTalk.