Some may argue a Final Four full of all No. 1 seeds means every team left is dealing with pressure to win it all. And of course, being a No. 1 seed does come with expectations, but there’s no coach who needs to win a national championship more than Kelvin Sampson and there's no team who needs to cut down the nets more than Houston.
The pressure on Sampson to finally get the job done for Houston even extends beyond the Cougars just being one of two remaining programs without a men’s basketball national championship. Auburn, a school more known for football success, is the other. Both Duke and Florida have multiple titles and dynasties for fans to reflect back on no matter what happens as the calendar shifts from March to April.
And while there’s no denying there’s also pressure on Bruce Pearl, another veteran coach who has been close but has yet to break through, and Auburn, a championship for Houston can help alleviate what the program is mostly known for from an historical perspective.
History adds pressure to Kelvin Sampson and Houston in Final Four
Houston’s run is about more than just what happens this year. The Cougars did win 34 games in the regular season and captured both the Big 12 regular season and conference tournament titles, but those accomplishments aren’t anything new for Sampson or the school. In fact, Houston is making its third appearance in the Final Four since 2022. However, Houston lost right before the national championship Game in each of the prior two recent times they have been this far.
The last time Houston basketball played for a national title was in 1984, the second of a back-to-back stretch of dominance that’s regard just as much for the entertainment of “Phi Slama Jama” led by basketball legends Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler as it is for not accomplishing their ultimate goal.
In 1983, Houston suffered one of the most iconic upsets in sports history when they endured a dramatic last-second loss to North Carolina State. To their credit, the Cougars responded by returning the next season, but fell to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in a battle of Hall of Fame big men.
But beyond wanting to get the monkey of the past of the school’s black, Sampson has done everything imaginable aside from lifting the trophy as the last team standing. Sampson has a 797-354 (.692%) overall record, he’s led a team to the NCAA Tournament 21 times, has won six conference tournaments in total and has been named the Associated Press Coach of the Year twice. Sampson is already worthy of enshrinement in the Basketball Hall of Fame. However, a national championship, especially a first for a school, would be the final cherry on top of his career resume.
Even aside from everything it would mean for the school, Houston winning would give the Big 12 its third national championship since 2021. Kansas and Baylor won following the tournament being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only back-to-back titles by UConn will have interrupted the Big 12’s reign over college basketball should the Cougars join the club.
And even though most don’t doubt the conference’s place in the sport, it’s the SEC that has the current bragging rights thanks to record number (14) of teams earning an NCAA bid. Another Big 12 championship will help the conference shift the pendulum back their way.
ESPN even released a “30 For 30” movie about the “Phi Slama Jam” teams early in Sampson’s tenure in 2016 for an ironic twist. Was it foreshadowing of history repeating itself for longtime fans of the Cougars? Instead, maybe those same fans will be able to soon watch it with a little smirk in their eye, knowing the current group finished the story for the players of the past.