The 2021–22 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

in the

2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2021 and concluded on March 13, 2022. The 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 15 and concluded on April 4 with the c ...

. The Cougars were led by eighth-year head coach

Kelvin Sampson Kelvin Dale Sampson (born October 5, 1955) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the University of Houston of the Big 12 Conference. Early life Sampson was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina, to parents who were m ...

. The team played their home games at the

Fertitta Center The Fertitta Center, formerly known as Hofheinz Pavilion, is a 7,100-seat multi-purpose arena on the University of Houston campus in Houston. Located at 3875 Holman Street, it is home to the Houston Cougars men's and women's basketball teams and ...

as members of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

. Houston finished its 2021–22 regular season with an overall record of 26–5. They were regular-season champions of the American Conference with a record of 15–3 in conference play. They entered the conference tournament as the #1 seed and proceeded to win the tournament, defeating

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

71–53 in the final. The Cougars entered the NCAA tournament as the #5 seed in the South Regional. Houston went 3–1 in the tournament, reaching the Elite Eight before falling 50–44 to Villanova in the regional final. Houston finished the season with a record of 32–6 and a ranking of #7 in the final Coaches Poll.

Previous season

Houston finished the 2020–21 regular season 21–3, 14–3 in AAC play, finishing in second place for the regular season. They entered as the No. 2 seed in the AAC tournament, which the Cougars would go on to win for the first time to clinch an auto-bid to the NCAA tournament. They were selected as a #2 seed in the Midwest Region. The team advanced to the Final Four for the first time since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, where they lost to eventual national champions Baylor.

Offseason

Departing players

Incoming transfers

2021 recruiting class

2022 recruiting class

Preseason

AAC preseason media poll

On October 13, ''The American'' released the preseason poll and other preseason awards.

Preseason awards

* All-AAC First Team – Marcus Sasser

Roster

*December 22, 2021 – Tramon Mark had shoulder surgery, leading him to miss the rest of the season. *December 24, 2021 – Marcus Sasser announced he would miss the rest of the season due to a foot injury.

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, AAC regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, AAC tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament Source

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.
^Coaches did not release a week 1 poll.

Awards and honors

American Athletic Conference honors

All-AAC Awards

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

: Kelvin Sampson

All-AAC First Team

*Josh Carlton *Fabian White Jr.

All-AAC Second Team

*Kyler Edwards

All-AAC Third Team

*Jamal Shead Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston 2021–22 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season 2021-22 Houston Cougars men's basketball team 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament participants 2021 in sports in Texas 2022 in sports in Texas