Mar 11, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Big 12 logo center court prior to the game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Oklahoma State Cowboys at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images William Purnell-Imagn Images

Houston Cougars Big 12 Title Defense Starts Now

Originally posted on Houston Cougars on SI
By Kolton Becker | Last updated Dec 30, 2025 10:50 AM ET

In the blink of an eye, Houston is going to be done with the non-conference part of the schedule and will turn the page to start taking on the rest of the Big 12, where the competition begins to get a little harder each and every time coach Kelvin Sampson’s program takes the floor in hopes of snagging another win.

So far, the 11-1 start has been nearly as good as any Coogs fan could have hoped for, with the only loss of the season coming at the hands of an SEC team, Tennessee. The rest of the schedule will help get back to being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and possibly punch a ticket to March Madness.

When analyzing the games on the schedule that have already gone final, the 11 wins came against Lehigh, Towson, Oakland, Auburn, Rider, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Florida State, Jackson State, New Orleans and Arkansas. A handful of those teams faced Power Four teams, which is a good sign that the Cougars are trending in the right direction.

Road Ahead

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If you look at the schedule the Cougars have in front of them, it isn’t going to be easy, but it presents a ton of opportunities to learn and grow from those experiences. Sampson’s roster will see every Big 12 team at least once this season, either at home or on the road.

There were a few teams that were fortunate to draw the competition only once against Houston, and those teams were BYU, Colorado, Utah, UCF, TCU, Oklahoma State, and Kansas at home, while on the road, it was Kansas State, West Virginia, Arizona, Arizona State, and Iowa State.

The Red Raiders, Bears, and Bearcats drew the Cougars twice, so down the line, it may benefit or hurt the program, depending on how each player plays after one matchup with them.

It all starts on January 3, 2026.

To open things up for the 18-game conference schedule, Cincinnati gets to see Houston’s club first before Houston goes back and forth the next three on the road and at home against No. 15 Texas Tech, at Baylor, and at home against West Virginia.

After the first four games, Arizona State visits the Fertitta Center on a Sunday, before Houston gets a rest slot before playing again on the road Saturday at Texas Tech.

The Cougars stay in-state and travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on TCU on a Wednesday evening. Back-to-back games are hosted at home when Cincinnati makes the trip first before UCF makes the flight on a Wednesday.

A trip to Utah is then taken when No. 10 BYU hosts Houston before a short trip to battle Utah.

The Wildcats then come for a late Saturday night affair before the Cougars go to take on two of the three best-ranked teams in the nation. It’s No. 3 Iowa State on the road before hosting No. 1 Arizona in front of the Houston crowd.

It doesn’t get any easier when a late Monday night game occurs at No. 17 Kansas.

Two of the final three games for the Cougars are at the Fertitta Center against the Buffaloes and Bears, followed by one last road trip to Oklahoma State before the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri, at T-Mobile Center.