KANSAS CITY — The last time that No. 17 BYU and No. 2 Houston played, Houston embarrassed BYU, coming away with a 86-55 victory.
While Houston will still be a favorite on Friday's game, a lot has happened since the beginning of January that would suggest this game might be a closer contest the second time around.
Big 12 favorites: Houston Cougars
As hot and popular of a team that BYU is in the national media, Houston is even hotter.
Kelvin Sampson's crew is on a current 11-game winning streak — their second winning streak of at least 11 games this season — and has not been defeated since Feb. 1, when they lost in overtime against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders finished as the second best team in the Big 12 regular season.
Over its first two seasons in the Big 12, Houston has managed to earn a 34-4 record in Big 12 play. Only four losses in two years.
Make no mistake. Houston is as elite as it gets.
If you look at the All-Big 12 teams and awards, it is riddled with Houston Cougars.
| Coach of the Year | Kelvin Sampson |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Joseph Tugler |
| Scholar-Athlete of the Year | LJ Cryer |
| All-Big 12 First Team | LJ Cryer, J'Wan Roberts |
| All-Big 12 Second Team | Milos Uzan |
| All-Big 12 Third Team | Joseph Tugler |
| All-Defensive Team | J'Wan Roberts, Joseph Tugler |
| Honorable Mentions | Emanuel Sharp |
Top to bottom, Houston has a case for the best team in the country and is a lock for a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
In its game against BYU in January, Emanuel Sharp led all scorers with 18 points, but the game was truly over before it even started, with Houston never trailing the whole 40 minutes. Houston shot 49.2% from the field and 47.1% from deep.
Houston kept up this level of play for the rest of the season, going 19-1 since then. The Cougars have only allowed 80 points twice in that span.
First team All-Big 12 member, J'wan Roberts, is questionable tomorrow with an ankle injury. He would be a big loss, but Houston has the depth to make up for it.
The 'second' hottest team in the Big 12
March BYU and January BYU seem like two completely different teams. Shockingly enough, the 34-point loss wasn't the low point for BYU that month.
On Jan. 18, BYU fell in a heartbreaking overtime loss to its rivals at Utah. That loss gave the Cougars a 2-4 record in the Big 12. Nowhere near sniffing the NCAA Tournament.
Since then, BYU is 13-2, and is riding a current nine-game win streak. The Cougars are a completely different team than the one that fell apart in Houston.
Head coach Kevin Young has repeatedly said that his team is "not a one-trick pony," citing how they can win in an abundance of different ways.
That was evident in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Iowa State.
Just a week ago, BYU came out victorious over Iowa State in a defensive, double-overtime battle. On Thursday, the Cougars and Cyclones shot lights out in Kansas City. For the second time in a row, BYU managed to snag a victory.
BYU's leading scorer, Richie Saunders, has come a long way since his nine-point performance against Houston two months ago. He safely made the All-Big 12 first team, being a top-10 scorer shooting over 50% from the field and 40% from deep.
It's a completely different feeling around this BYU team, but it will still have an uphill battle if it wants to dethrone Houston.
Battle of the Cougars
Houston has opened up as a 7.5-point favorite, and has an 80.6% chance to win, according to ESPN Analytics.
This will be the fifth top-25 team that BYU has played in 10 games. Houston is by far the best team in that stretch.
Houston is the clear favorite, but BYU has shown in recent weeks that it can beat anyone any way.