How Long Will Houston Stay Unbeaten?
We are into mid –December and the Houston Cougars are still unbeaten. The Coogs are one of just 9 teams unbeaten in the nation. Today we take a look at just how long the Coogs can stay out of the loss column.
Houston still has 4 non-conference games left on their schedule against St. Louis, Utah St, Coppin St, and NJIT. Their hardest game will probably come against St. Louis who currently sits at 7-2 and 75th in KenPom. However, St. Louis ranks 219th in adjusted offense, so I think Houston’s guards score enough and get an ugly win. The other three teams all rank outside the top 200 in Kenpom, so if Houston can get past SLU, I like their chances to get to 13-0.
Conference play starts with a five game stretch (Tulsa, Memphis, @Temple, Wich, @SMU). Kelvin Sampson’s team is probably better than all of these teams, but winning five games in a row in which your just a slight favorite in all of them will be incredible tough. Tulsa is a very tough team with players like DaQuan Jefferies and Martins Igbanu and they defend really well, which was imminent in their 47-46 win over a top 20 Kansas St team. We will give the nod to Houston though because of the homecourt advantage. Next comes a Memphis team, who will show flashes of being a solid team this year, but I don’t think they’ll be able to beat Houston on the road.
The first road test of the season could be very difficult. The guard play of Temple is usually pretty good, so they can match Houston there. This is a game that will come down to defense and whichever team defends better. Temple stands at 8-2 currently with tight losses to VCU and Villanova. I think Temple pulls out an ugly win in this one, and Houston’s unbeaten run ends at 15-0.
The Cougars will play a lot of teams in the American that will be tough games, just because you aren’t going to continue to beat solid competition, and that’s what the American is this year. They don’t have any great teams this year like they did last year with Cincinnati, Wichita St, and Houston. This year, they have a lot of decent teams who can beat anyone, but are largely inconsistent.
