What has Houston athletics achieved in the past decade that no other school has?
The Cougars have accomplished something unprecedented in the last 10 years by excelling in two sports like no other school. Houston’s basketball team secured its seventh Final Four appearance on Sunday, marking its second in the past five seasons under coach Kelvin Sampson.
This milestone also brings Houston a unique distinction, proudly highlighted by the athletic department’s social media. The Cougars are the only Division I school in the nation to win a New Year’s Six bowl game in football and reach two Final Fours in men’s basketball over the past decade.
Houston’s football team claimed the 2015 Peach Bowl with a 38-24 victory over Florida State on December 31, 2015. That win followed a conference championship and a spot in the New Year’s Six bowl as the highest-ranked “Group of Five” team that year.
On the basketball side, the Cougars reached their first Final Four under Sampson in 2021, though they lost to Baylor. Then, this past Sunday, Houston punched its ticket to a seventh Final Four with a 69-50 win over Tennessee.
So, in the last 10 years, Houston is the only school to secure both a New Year’s Six bowl victory and two Final Four appearances, an achievement no other program can match. The Cougars will face Duke in the Final Four this Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
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