The University of Houston is up to No. 2 in the new college basketball polls this week, and coach Kelvin Sampson's team is now the only unbeaten outfit left standing in the nation after two others fell over the weekend. However, the Cougars have a very tricky game Tuesday night, their first-ever Big 12 road matchup, as they visit 11-3 Iowa State, which is only a 3.5-point underdog on the SportsLine consensus.
Members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins still reportedly celebrate when the last unbeaten NFL team falls every season. Do members of the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers do the same when the last unbeaten college hoops team falls? That Indiana team was the last to win a national championship without a loss. Houston is currently a +1000 second-favorite behind No. 1 Purdue (+850) to cut down the nets on April 8.
Only three schools this century have reached the Big Dance without a loss: 2013-14 Wichita State (lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament), 2014-15 Kentucky (lost in Final Four), and 2020-21 Gonzaga (lost in the title game).
Entering play this past Saturday, James Madison of the Sun Belt and Ole Miss of the SEC also were unbeaten. The Dukes were upset at Southern Miss and the Rebels were obliterated at No. 5 Tennessee. Houston (14-0) had zero trouble in its first-ever Big 12 game with an 89-55 rout of a decent West Virginia team on Saturday. The Cougars have won all but two games this season by double digits and are 14-0 for the third time in school history.
"I think our kids have always had a bit of a chip on their shoulders here," Sampson said. "We've had to get some of our own fans to understand that we're pretty good. They were so bad for so long. Some of them still have not figured it out. Our kids have, and our coaches have, and we know who we are. And what we're capable of doing."
KenPom ranks Houston as the No. 1 overall team, No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 10 in adjusted offense. Only Purdue, Arizona and Auburn also are in the top 10 in both of those latter categories. Houston also ranks first nationally in turnover percentage, two-point defense, block percentage and steal percentage. Only one opponent this season, Texas A&M, has averaged at least one point per possession against the Cougars.
Houston is the only team in the nation with active home and road winning streaks of at least 10 games each. The Cougars are riding a 12-game road winning streak and own a 14-game winning streak inside the Fertitta Center. Senior point guard Jamal Shead needs nine points to join teammates LJ Cryer and Damian Dunn in the 1,000 career points club. Cryer, a transfer from Baylor, was named preseason First-Team All-Big 12 and leads the team at 17.1 PPG.
Tuesday's game will be the Cougars' first meeting with the Cyclones since a double-overtime loss in Ames during the 2009-10 season. Iowa State is 9-0 at home this season but its six-game overall winning streak was snapped Saturday in a 71-63 loss at No. 11 Oklahoma. The Cyclones led for only a total of 21 seconds.
Not many players lead their team in scoring, assists, rebounds and steals, but Tamin Lipsey does for for the Cyclones at 14.7 points, 6.0 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 steals. Lipsey had the seventh triple-double in school history earlier this season against DePaul. Iowa State is 0-2 vs. ranked foes this season with that Oklahoma loss and also a 73-69 neutral-site loss to then-No. 12 Texas A&M on Nov. 26. Houston beat the Aggies 70-66 on Dec. 16.
Houston will be the highest-ranked team to play at Hilton Coliseum since top-ranked Baylor's 77-72 win on New Year's Day 2022. Five of the Cyclones' nine top 25 wins last season came at home — including a trio of top-eight wins over Kansas, Kansas State and Texas.
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