The Houston is back in the Final Four for the second time since 2021. Their second season in the Big 12 has been good to the Cougars as they put together a 34-4 record, went 19-1 in conference play and entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed.
What follows is a look at the best NCAA tournament performances in Houston’s history and a recap of how far they have gone before.
Houston has a strong pedigree in the NCAA tournament. Though the Cougars haven’t been regulars in the Final Four in the last few decades, they have been a frequent participant in the past.
Including 2025, Houston has made the Final Four seven times. The Cougars went to back-to-back national semifinals in 1967 and ’68, then went to three consecutive Final Fours in 1982, ’83 and ’84. There was a long dry spell after that, but head coach Kelvin Sampson led Houston back to the Final Four in 2021, and he has them back in ’25.
The Cougars have been to the Final Four seven times, but have reached the national championship game just twice. Houston went to the title game in back-to-back years, 1983 and ’84. Both times, the Cougars came up short, losing to N.C. State 54-52 in ’83 and to Georgetown 84-75 in ’84.
The 1983 and ’84 teams were part of Houston’s famous three-year “Phi Slama Jama” seasons. After reaching the Final Four in ’82, they were back in ’83, led by future Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. The ’83 team was upset by N.C. State in the title game.
Olajuwon led the team back to the title game in 1984, but the Cougars lost to a Georgetown team led by superstar Patrick Ewing.
After the 1984 season, it would be 36 seasons before the Cougars made it out of the second weekend of the NCAA tournament again.
