Where Houston Cougars Stand in Big 12 Preseason Poll

The Houston Cougars will look to defend their Big 12 regular season and tournament titles.

Apr 5, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson in action against the Duke Blue Devils in the semifinals of the men's Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Since joining the Big 12 in 2023, the Houston Cougars have quickly established themselves as the team to beat in the conference, and one of the teams to beat in college basketball as a whole.

Kelvin Sampson's Cougars have put together an outstanding 67-10 record over the past two seasons, including a 34-4 mark in Big 12 play. They've won the Big 12 regular season title in each of their first two seasons - as well as the Big 12 tournament title in 2025, where they faced very little opposition along the way.

Now, to little surprise, many expect the Cougars to run the conference again this season.

Houston Cougars Predicted to Repeat as Big 12 Champions

Houston guard Emanuel Sharp (21) celebrates a three-pointer during a NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game between Tennessee and Houston at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Sunday, March 30, 2025. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the Big 12 preseason poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches, the Cougars are the clear favorite with 14 of the 16 first-place votes. BYU and Arizona each received one first-place vote as well.

However, the Cougars - who are also the No. 2 team in the preseason AP Poll - are not a runaway favorite in this poll. The top six teams - Houston, BYU, Texas Tech, Arizona, Iowa State and Baylor - are separated by just 63 total points, showing just how stacked the conference is at the top.

The Big 12 is coming off a great all-around year, as the conference sent seven teams to the NCAA Tournament. Six of those teams (the same as the top six in the preseason poll) were a No. 7 seed or higher, while Baylor came in as a No. 5 seed.

The success didn't stop there, though, as four teams - Houston, Texas Tech, Arizona and BYU - made it to the Sweet 16. Texas Tech would also advance to the Sweet 16 and Houston made it all the way to the national championship game before falling to Florida in a heartbreaker.

Heading into this season, Sampson - the Big 12 Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons - and the Cougars have a revenge tour in mind. They retain three key starters from last year's team in guards Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp and forward Joseph Tugler, even though the latter is still recovering from injury. With a strong set of newcomers as well, the Cougars look like they should be a national championship threat once again..

To get there, however, they'll have to show the rest of the Big 12 who's in charge once again.