They’re from Houston, they wear red, they play basketball, and the greatest ever Rocket was a Cougar first.
Houston Cougars vs. Florida Gators
Monday, April 7, 2025 @ 7:50pm CST
Location: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
TV: CBS
First off, the Cougars beat a Duke team with the very likely 1-1 NBA Draft pick, and two other lottery players. It was a stirring comeback, and shocked pretty much everyone but the Cougars. There are stories all over, that are mostly asking harsh question of Duke (which is fair) but the other side of the coin is, the Houston Cougars went and took a game from a loaded Duke team.
The Cougars have had one of the most difficult roads to the Finals of any NCAA team, and yet, here they are. They can beat a very good Florida team, too.
From a personal standpoint, I’d love it if the Cougars finally, finally, won it all. Both my parents went to the U of H. They met there. My first ever memory of Houston sports heartbreak, of many, many, to come, was the coolest NCAA team ever, the UH Phi Slamma Jamma, losing in the last second of the Final to NC State. Even today, it still hurts, because they will not stop playing that clip.
Philosophically, that loss cemented in my mind a deep hatred and disgust for “turtling”. That is, a team with a big lead retreating into its shell, that stops doing the things that brought it such a big lead. Sure, there are times to run clock, but by and large, play the way that brought you to where you are now.
One could argue that Duke, with a big lead late, also decided to turtle, while the Cougars kept playing the way they always do, with their hair on fire. Look what it cost Duke, the overwhelming favorite in that game.
I’m not entirely sure I can actually watch this one. I couldn’t watch the Astros win their first world series. I just dropped in and out of the UH v Duke game on Saturday. I hope you don’t judge me harshly for that, but that’s where a lifetime of being a Houston sports fan has left me.
So talk the game here, and I may stream it on playback.tv/dreamshake, though its on CBS, so it should be available everywhere.
Since this game is in San Antonio, we can wish for a sea of Houston Cougar red in the stands tonight.