Kelvin Sampson Breaks Down Houston Cougars' Seamless transition to the Big 12

In their two seasons in the Big 12, the Cougars have already added to their trophy closet, with back-to-back regular-season titles for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. And last year, it was conference dominance for Houston, sweeping both the regular season and the tournament championships, solidifying a stronghold in the conference.

Earlier this week, Sampson spoke with Jon Rothstein of Inside College Basketball Now about the Cougars' transition from the AAC to the Big 12, referencing their experiences in the NCAA Tournament as the best preparation for the move. The Cougars had not long ago reached a Final Four in 2021 as a member of the AAC, where they ultimately lost to future conference foe Baylor.

"I think our stamp or giving ourselves permmission to be good came agasint all the games we played against Big 12 teams," Sampson said. "We played a lot of those teams, wheter it was Ohio State or Washington, Illonies or Arizona, wgoing to the tourrnment every year where its a sweet sixteen, elite eight or final four your going to hae to beat a power four team.

However, the Cougars' inaugural season in the new conference was not smooth sailing, as the start for Houston was rough, dropping two out of their first three conference games to unranked opponents. However, Sampson was able to regroup his team and guide them to a regular-season title that year after dropping just one more game after their first two earlier losses.

"Sometimes your attitude has to be what you could be or what you are," Sampson said. "My attitude with my team is always telling them what they could be, so here's what you have to do to get there. We tighten up this, get better at this, late game here, late game there, so the next thing you know, we rattled off, I think are final record was 15-3 after starting 1-2.

The Cougars have become one of the powerhouses in the Big 12 in just two years. Especially after a run to the national championship game a season ago and the addition of talented freshmen, Houston should once again be battling for both a conference and national title.