The 2025–26 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars, led by 12th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson, played their home games at the Fertitta Center as third-year members of the Big 12 Conference.

Previous season As the No. 1 seed in the 2025 Big 12 men's basketball tournament, held at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, Houston received a bye to the quarterfinals. There, they defeated Colorado, 77–68, to advance to the semifinals, where they would defeat BYU, 74–54, to advance to the championship game, where they would secure a 72–64 victory over Arizona to claim their first tournament title.

As the tournament champion, Houston received an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA tournament, also as the No. 1 seed. They were seeded in the Midwest region. There, they defeated SIU Edwardsville, 78–40, in the First round, Gonzaga, 81–76, in the Second round, Purdue, 62–60, in the Sweet Sixteen, and Tennessee, 69–50, in the Elite Eight to advance to their first Final Four since 2021. In the Final Four, they overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat Duke, 70–67, to advance to their first national championship since 1984. In the championship game, despite leading for nearly the entire game – the same thing Duke did to them in the Final Four – Houston ultimately lost to Florida, 65–63, denying them their first national title.

Offseason Departing players Houston Departing Players LJ Cryer 4 G 6'1" 200 Graduate Student Katy, TX Exhausted eligibility Ja'Vier Francis 5 F 6'8" 235 Senior New Orleans, LA Graduated Mylik Wilson 8 G 6'3" 175 Graduate Student Rayville, LA Exhausted eligibility J'Wan Roberts 13 F 6'8" 235 Graduate Student Saint Thomas, USVI Exhausted eligibility Terrance Arceneaux 23 G 6'6" 205 Sophomore Beaumont, TX Transferred to NC State

Incoming transfers Houston incoming transfers Kalifa Sakho 14 F 6'11" 230 Graduate Student Rouen, France Sam Houston

2025 recruiting class

Preseason The Big 12 preseason coaches poll was released on October 16, 2025. All awards were voted on by the league's 16 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players. The Big 12 preseason media poll was released on October 30, 2025.

Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll Big 12 CoachesPoints 1.Houston224 (12) 2.BYU204 (1) 3.Texas Tech200 4.Arizona179 (1) 5.Iowa State170 6.Kansas163 7.Baylor137 8.Cincinnati120 9.Kansas State117 10.TCU90 11.West Virginia79 12.Oklahoma State77 13.Utah50 14.UCF39 15.Colorado37 16.Arizona State34Reference: (#) first-place votes

Big 12 Preseason Media Poll Big 12 Media 1.Houston 2.Texas Tech 3.BYU 4.Arizona 5.Iowa State 6.Kansas 7.Baylor 8.Kansas State 9.Cincinnati 10.TCU 11.West Virginia 12.Oklahoma State 13.Utah 14.UCF 15.Colorado 16.Arizona StateReference:

All-Big 12 Preseason First team

Player School Pos. Yr. Ht., Wt. Hometown (Last School)AJ Dybantsa†BYUFFr.6'9", 195Brockton, MA (Utah Prep)Richie SaundersGSr.6'5", 200Riverton, UT (Wasatch Academy)Emanuel SharpHoustonGR-Sr.6'3", 205Tampa, FL (Bishop McLaughlin School)Joseph TuglerFJr.6'8", 230Monroe, LA (Cypress Falls)Milos Uzan†GSr.6'4", 195Las Vegas, NV (Oklahoma)Tamin LipseyIowa StateGSr.6'1", 200Ames, IA (Ames)Darryn Peterson†KansasGFr.6'5", 205Canton, OH (Napa Christian)P.J. HaggertyKansas StateGJr.6'4", 195Crosby, TX (Memphis)Christian Anderson Jr.Texas TechGSo.6'9", 195Atlanta, GA (Oak Hill Academy)JT Toppin†FJr.6'9", 230Dallas, TX (New Mexico)† denotes unanimous selectionReference:

Player of the Year: JT Toppin, Texas Tech Co-Newcomer of the Year: LeJuan Watts, Texas Tech Freshman of the Year: Darryn Peterson, Kansas

Award watch lists Listed in the order that they were released

Roster

Schedule and results

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!colspan=12 style=""| Non-conference regular season

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Source:

Rankings

References