Next year, Houston will be one of four cities to host a regional in the NCAA basketball tournament.
And Houston’s team wants to be a part of it – with a few possible conditions.
According to a report in Friday’s Houston Chronicle, the University of Houston is talking with the NCAA about the possibility of the Cougars getting to play in the South Regional tournament next March at the Toyota Center.
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For that to actually happen, though, the university will have to give up its role as the regional site’s host school. Also, in order for the Cougars to possibly get to play just a few miles from their campus, they would have to play no more than three regular-season games at the Toyota Center, an NCAA spokesperson told the Chronicle.
NCAA rules prohibit teams from playing the NCAA tourney at its respective on-campus sites. Also, teams that generally play home games at an off-campus arena are prohibited from playing tournament games there – with a common example being Kentucky, which cannot play NCAA games at its off-campus Rupp Arena.
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UH athletics director Eddie Nunez fervently wants to have the chance for the Cougars to get to play in their home city and will gladly give up hosting duties for the regional in order for that to materialize.
“I have not given up the ability for us to play at the Toyota Center because somebody put us as host,” Nunez said in a statement to the Chronicle.
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Should UH surrender the hosting duties, the article also stated, another Division I school in the area such as Rice, Texas Southern, Prairie View A&M and Sam Houston State, among others, could take over.
The South Regional is set for March 26-28 at the Toyota Center. The other three regional sites are San Jose, Calif., Chicago, Ill., and Washington, D.C.
Next year’s Final Four is set for April 4-6 in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium – ironically where Houston won the Midwest Regional last March en route to eventually reaching the national championship game.
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