Kelvin Sampson concedes when exactly Houston lost Big 12 title reign, and it wasn’t vs. Kansas

Houston basketball moved to the Big 12 for the 2023-24 season. In the first two seasons in the new conference, Houston won the regular-season title. On Monday night, Houston fell to Kansas, putting its chances of winning the conference for a third straight season in jeopardy.

After the contest, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson spoke about the fact that they may not win the regular season title again this year, per Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle.

“I think we lost the opportunity to win the league” with Saturday’s loss to Arizona, Sampson noted. “Had we won Saturday, we would have had a great chance.”

Houston has now lost three straight, dropping them to 11-4 in conference play. Their third straight loss was the first time the Cougars have lost three straight since January of 2017. Meanwhile, their fourth conference loss of the year is the most they have lost in conference play since 2019-20, when they were playing in the AAC. Barring a miracle, it will also be the first time since 2020-21 that Houston did not win their conference. Sampson still put a positive spin on the recent losing streak.

“This is all behind us now. We lick our wounds. We haven’t been through anything like this because we’ve been the winningest program in America for how many years. This is a great life lesson for everybody. When we play these good teams you’ve got to be on top of your game and we weren’t,” Samson said after the contest.

Houston is not officially out of the conference title race, but it would take a small miracle for them to win the conference. At 11-4 in conference play, Houston is 1.5 games behind Arizona in the conference and tied with Kansas in the league. Due to head-to-head losses, Houston would need to pass both of them. Meanwhile, Iowa State and Texas Tech are both 10-4 in conference play, sitting just behind Houston.

To claim the conference, Houston would need to win out while Arizona lost three of the last four, while Kansas, Iowa State, and Texas Tech all take a loss. Iowa State still faces Texas Tech and Arizona, while Arizona has Kansas and Iowa State. It is a very slim path, likely ending the reign of Houston.

Regardless, Houston can still make a run in the NCAA tournament.  That starts with rebounding from their three-game skid, starting against Colorado on Saturday.

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