6. Houston
The Houston Cougars are primed for a run next season if they indeed return all six of their top players. Right now, Nate Hinton and DeJon Jarreau are still technically declared for the NBA Draft but expect them to come back. Especially Jarreau, who could be primed to take another step in the right direction and likely wouldn’t be drafted. Hinton is a bigger question mark, but having a special season on a team that could be top five in the nation might be too hard to give up.
Kelvin Sampson has his team as the clear favorites to win the American Athletic Conference. They played one of the better schedules last season, and they rose to the occasion. They lost a bunch of games by one possession, and they will need to clean that up. Teams can usually grow from that, and Houston was set to be a four or five seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament.
Houston has been a 20-win team since 2015-16 and has quietly become one of the most consistent teams in the country. One season ago, they were coming off a 33-win season and a Sweet 16 appearance. Now, they are bringing back one of the most talented teams they’ve had. They need to prove they can win it all, especially in the AAC Tournament final. They’ve lost the last two finals.
This season, they are welcoming in the best recruiting class in the conference. Four-star recruit Tramon Mark tops the class. He’s a versatile guard who usually plays two but can play the point when called upon. That kind of versatility is something that will play well in Sampson’s offense.
J’Wan Roberts is a player that Sampson seems to really like. He redshirted last season, but this season the coach expects him to make a big impact. Adding those two (along with incoming freshmen Kiyron Powell and Jamal Shead) will give Houston some of the best depth of any team in the country.