Houston Cougars men's basketball stays in town, heads to Vegas for non-conference slate

The Cougars face off with Alabama, Rutgers, and Notre Dame as part of a Thanksgiving week tourney in Las Vegas.

ByMatt Guillermo

Monday, August 5, 2024

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- For Houston Cougars men's basketball fans eager for what's coming up for their team, you should get used to staying home and taking on a getaway to Las Vegas for the non-conference portion of the program's schedule.

On Monday, three months before the season's start, UH announced the defending Big 12 Conference regular-season champions' opening 11 games of their 2024-2025 schedule.

With key names like J'Wan Roberts, L.J. Cryer, and Ramon Walker Jr. returning for another go at a national championship, the Cougars scheduled a majority-Houston-set non-conference slate, with seven matchups held inside the Fertitta Center. One of those games is a Dec. 7 Big 12-Big East Battle with the Butler Bulldogs, who were back-to-back national championship runners-up more than a decade ago.

Houston also has four neutral-court games. On Nov. 9, the Coogs will take their talents to the Toyota Center against Auburn University for the Battleground 2K24 event, which will also hold a Rice vs. Florida State matchup on the same day and venue. Auburn, the alma mater of Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr., earned five NCAA Tournament bids since 2018, including a Final Four trip in 2019. The Tigers were also the Southeastern Conference Tournament champs last season.

UH said the Cougars and Tigers, who last met in a 2023 NCAA Tournament second-round matchup, will meet again in 2025 in Auburn.

The Coogs' biggest test could happen when they travel to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival on Thanksgiving week.

The University of Houston will face Alabama, Rutgers, and Notre Dame on Nov. 26, 27, and 29 in a round-robin format. The organizers have yet to announce the order of games, but the event could help or hurt UH's chances of NCAA Tournament seeding down the road. UH will try to avenge two losses by Alabama since 2021.

Tickets for the Auburn and Butler games are on sale now. Houston has yet to announce its Big 12 regular-season schedule.