Houston Cougars Unveil Big 12 Basketball Opponents for 2026-27
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Big 12 basketball games are always street fights, as assistant head coach Kellen Sampson likes to say. It's arguably year in and year out the toughest and most physical conference for college basketball in the country.
The brand of Big 12 basketball is well known, and it's said to be the most competitive group of schools with a high number of contenders. Houston seamlessly joined the elite conference back in the 2024 season and immediately rose to the top with a Big 12 regular-season title. The Cougars did it again in the 2025 season and this time won both the regular season and tournament titles.
That made Houston the first school in more than a century to win back-to-back regular-season titles in the first two years of joining a power conference. The Cougars went a historic 19-1 during that season. The Big 12 went back to an 18-game schedule for 2026, and the conference will stick with that for the upcoming season as well.
Houston's 18-game Big 12 schedule will be stacked and a grind as usual. Here's how UH's Big 12 schedule matrix turned out.
Houston's Big 12 Opponents
All Big 12 teams will play three schools in a home-and-away series, six opponents at home only, and six opponents solely on the road.
Houston will play Arizona, Texas Tech and Colorado at home and on the road. Both Arizona and Texas Tech are the two teams over the years that have given the Cougars the closest fights and a majority of their Big 12 losses over the past two seasons.
Houston's home schedule is looking quite daunting but also entertaining with some great matchups on hand. The Cougars will also face BYU, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU and Utah in the Fertitta Center. Houston did not play any of those opponents at home last season and will face them after two years.
Iowa State and Kansas are never easy, while BYU is still one of the better teams in the conference. TCU always plays hard, while Oklahoma State gave a good fight to Houston last season. The Cougars did face Arizona, Texas Tech and Colorado at home in 2026, with UH looking for revenge against the Wildcats.
Houston's other road opponents include Baylor, Cincinnati, UCF, West Virginia, Arizona State and Kansas State. The two toughest are obviously Arizona and Texas Tech, but this road slate does look possible to navigate.
The entire schedule with game days, times, and networks will be released at a later date. Houston went 14-4 in the Big 12 last year and finished second overall. The Cougars fell in the Big 12 title game to Arizona after beating them in 2025.
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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.