Michael Horton, Digital Content Producer
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Michael Horton, Digital Content Producer
On Sunday, the Houston Cougars took care of the Tennessee Volunteers to punch their ticket to San Antonio, where they will face the Duke Blue Devils in the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
READ MORE: Houston holds off Tennessee after dominant first half, advances to second Final Four in 40 years
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The Coogs are still waiting to bring home their first championship, but this isn’t the first time they’ve come close—far from it, in fact! The Cougars have been on the doorstep of basketball immortality on several occasions, reaching the Final Four six times before.
As we prepare for Houston’s return to the semis, here’s a brief history of the team’s six previous trips:
The Cougars reached the Final Four for the first time in 1967, back when the tournament featured just 23 teams. Coming out of the Midwest region, they took down New Mexico State, Kansas and SMU to win the region.
Outcome: The Cougars lost to Lew Alcindor and John Wooden’s dominant UCLA team in the Final Four by a score of 73-58, and the Bruins would go on to win the National Championship. The Cougars would take down North Carolina in the Third Place Game (back when that used to be a thing).
Cougars’ star Elvin Hayes was the top overall scorer in the tournament, finishing with 128 points across five games.
Houston reached its second Final Four the very next season. Once again in the Midwest region, the Coogs took down Loyola Chicago, Louisville and in-state rival TCU to get themselves back to the last weekend of the Big Dance.
Outcome: The Cougars once again ran into the Wooden-Alcindor UCLA buzzsaw, this time losing in blowout fashion, 103-68. They took home fourth place this time around, losing to Ohio State in the consolation game by a score of 89-85. Despite the lesser finish, Hayes was once again the tournament’s leading scorer, finishing with an insane 167 points this time around.
Houston reached its third Final Four 14 years later, and the tournament had expanded form 23 teams to 48 by that point. The first iteration of what would become known as the “Phi Slama Jama” teams was led by Clyde Drexler, Rob Williams, Michael Young and Larry Micheaux. The team also boasted a redshirt freshman center who came on the floor in a sixth man role named Akeem Olajuwon—more on him later.
After entering the tournament as a six-seed in the Midwest region, the Coogs took down Alcorn State, Tulsa, Missouri and Boston College to enter the Final Four as by-far the biggest surprise of the tournament.
Outcome: The Cougars’ magic ran out in the Final Four, as they fell to the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels—a team led by James Worthy, Sam Perkins and a young guard named Michael Jordan. The Third Place Game had been done away with by this point. In what was becoming a pattern for Houston’s Final Four visits, the tournament’s top overall scorer was UH’s Rob Williams.
The Coogs made it back to the Final Four the following year. No longer an underdog six-seed, they entered the 1983 tournament as the No. 1 team in the Midwest region. With Williams now in the NBA, the ‘83 Coogs were able to retain the rest of the star power from their ‘82 team, with Olajuwon now fully embraced as the team’s leader on both ends of the floor.
The Cougars rolled through Maryland, Memphis State (now just called “Memphis”) and Villanova to get back to the Final Four.
Outcome: This was a historic run for the Cougars. They rolled Louisville in the semifinal to advance to their first National Championship game in program history. They entered the championship against six-seed NC State as heavy favorites. However, the Wolfpack pulled off a historic upset, winning 54-52 on a last-second dunk by Lorenzo Charles. The game’s ending was a subject of confusion, as the typically dominant glass cleaner Olajuwon didn’t contest the airballed shot that Charles corralled for the dunk, because he was afraid he would be called for goaltending.
Despite the devastating loss, Olajuwon was named the tournament’s most outstanding player (MOP). This was the first time the Cougars reached a Final Four without boasting the tournament’s top scorer (NC State’s Dereck Whittenburg took home the crown with 120 points).
Following 1983′s disappointing outcome, the redemption-minded Cougars returned to Final Four for the third time in the Phi Slama Jama era. This year’s team lacked the high-end offensive dominance of the year prior, as Clyde Drexler and Larry Micheaux left for the 1983 NBA Draft. Still, Young returned for the 1984 season, and Olajuwon was back on the floor with more experience.
Entering as a Midwest two-seed, the Coogs snuck by Louisiana Tech, Memphis State and Wake Forest—winning each game by seven points or fewer.
Outcome: Houston took down the Virginia Cavaliers in a 49-47 overtime victory to make their second championship game appearance. There waiting for them, was the Georgetown Hoyas, led by star center Patrick Ewing. The Hoyas led by 10 at halftime, and Houston’s second half surge came up short, with the Hoyas walking away with an 84-75 win.
In 2021, Houston reached the Final Four for the first time in the Kelvin Sampson era, as well as the first time in the era of the 68-team bracket. Led by consensus Third Team All-American Quentin Grimes and emerging star Marcus Sasser, the Coogs won the American Conference and looked to be a force in March.
As a two-seed in the Midwest regional, the Cougars took down Cleveland State, Rutgers, Syracuse and Oregon State to reach the Final Four.
Outcome: The Cougars faced a state rival in the 2021 Final Four: the Baylor Bears. Houston lost in a game that was far from close, 78-59, with Baylor eventually winning the national championship.
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Michael is a Kingwood native who loves visiting local restaurants and overreacting to Houston sports. He joined the KPRC 2 family in the spring of 2024. He earned his B.A. from Texas A&M University in 2022 and his M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023.
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UH is heading to its seventh Final Four in team history. Here’s how the first six trips went – Click2Houston
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