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Houston Cougars Men's Basketball Reveals 2026-27 Schedule
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POSTED: September 17, 2026 -- 4:55 p.m. CT
Houston Cougars Men's Basketball program will play 17 home games during its 2026-27 schedule, starting with an October 15 exhibition game against Montana Tech inside Fertitta Center, Head Coach Kelvin Sampson announced Thursday.
The slate features 16 20-game winners, four conference champions, 11 schools which finished among their conference's Top-Three leaders and 12 schools which competed in the NCAA Tournament, including defending national champion Michigan.
Game times and broadcasting networks will be announced soon.
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Following the home exhibition against Montana Tech, the Cougars travel north to face defending national champion Michigan during The Battleground 2k26 inside Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI., on October 25.
From there, Houston opens the regular season when it meets La Salle inside Fertitta Center on November 2. It will be only the second meeting against the Explorers and the first since the 1975-76 season.
The Cougars then take on California during the Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic inside Tahoe Blue Event Center in Lake Tahoe, Nev., on November 8.
After facing Jacksonville State inside Fertitta Center on November 11, the Cougars will compete in the Players Era 8 Championship for the third straight season inside Michelob ULTRA Arena inside Las Vegas.
Houston opens that event against Rutgers on November 17 before meeting Florida or Notre Dame on November 18. The Cougars close their stay when they face Auburn/West Virginia/Kansas/UNLV on November 19.
The Cougars close the month of November with two home games in a three-day stretch against Oakland (November 27) and against Queens (November 29) inside Fertitta Center.
Houston continues its homestand when it faces Central Arkansas for the first time in school history on December 2 and then takes on Texas State on December 5 inside Fertitta Center
From there, the Cougars will compete in three straight neutral-site events. That stretch begins with Alabama during the Jimmy V Classic inside Madison Square Garden in New York on December 8 and continues with the Houston Hoopfest against LSU inside Toyota Center on December 13.
That latter event will be part of a doubleheader with Houston Women's Basketball, which also faces LSU.
The Cougars then face Florida State during the Jacksonville Hoops Showdown inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., on December 20 before closing the non-conference slate against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi inside Fertitta Center on December 29.
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
The Cougars will play 18 Big 12 games during the regular season before entering the postseason.
Houston opens its conference slate against TCU on Jan. 2 inside Fertitta Center before back-to back road contests at Kansas State (Jan. 5) and at Baylor (Jan. 10). Following a Jan. 13 showdown against Iowa State inside Fertitta Center, the Cougars meet Colorado in Boulder (Jan. 16) before playing host to Texas Tech inside Fertitta Center (Jan. 19).
The Cougars meet Arizona State in Tempe, AZ. (Jan. 23) and close the month against BYU (Jan. 30) inside Fertitta Center.
Houston faces Kansas in a Big Monday showdown inside Fertitta Center on Feb. 1 before taking on Arizona (Feb. 6) and UCF (Feb. 10) in road tilts. After meeting Utah inside Fertitta Center on Feb. 13, the Cougars compete in their second Big Monday encounter when they face Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, on Feb. 15.
The Cougars host back-to-back home games against Oklahoma State (Feb. 21) and Colorado (Feb. 24) before closing the month of February at West Virginia in Morgantown, WV (Feb. 27).
Following a March 2 road meeting at Cincinnati, the Cougars close their regular season against Arizona inside Fertitta Center on March 6.
From there, the Cougars enter the postseason with the Big 12 Tournament set for March 9-13 inside T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO.
(schedule subject to change)
Houston Cougars MBB's 2026-27 Schedule
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 15 | Thu | TBA | Montana Tech (exh.) | Fertitta Center | TBD |
The Battleground 2K26 (Van Andel Arena, Oct. 25)
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 25 | Sun | TBA | Michigan | Van Andel Arena |
Houston Cougars MBB's 2026-27 Nonconference Schedule
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 2 | Mon | TBA | vs LaSalle | Fertitta Center | TBD |
Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 8 | Sun | TBA | California | Tahoe Blue Event Center | TBD |
Non-conference schedule continued
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 11 | Wed | TBA | Jacksonville State | Fertitta Center |
Players Era Festival (Las Vegas, NV - Nov. 17-19)
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 17 | Mon | 1 p.m. | Rutgers | Michelob ULTRA Arena | TBD |
| Nov. 18 | Tue | 1 p.m. / 4:30 p.m. | Florida / Notre Dame | Michelob ULTRA Arena | TBD |
| Nov. 19 | Wed | 1:30 p.m. / 4 p.m. / 7:30 p.m. / 10 p.m. | Kansas / UNLV / WVU / Auburn | Michelob ULTRA Arena | TBD |
Non-conference schedule continued
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 27 | Fri | TBA | Oakland | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Nov. 29 | Sun | TBA | Queens (NC | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Dec. 2 | Wed | TBA | Central Arkansas | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Dec. 5 | Sat | TBA | Texas State | Fertitta Center | TBD |
Jimmy V Classic
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 8 | Tue | TBA | Alabama | Madison Square Garden | TBD |
Houston Hoopfest
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 13 | Sun | TBA | LSU | Toyota Center | TBD |
Jacksonville Hoops Showdown
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 20 | Sun | TBA | Florida State | Veterans Memorial Arena | TBD |
Non-conference schedule continued
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 29 | Wed | TBA | Texas A&M - Corpus Christi | Fertitta Center | TBD |
(schedule subject to change)
Date |
Day |
Time (CT) |
Game |
Venue |
Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 2 | Sat | TBA | vs TCU | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Jan. 5 | Tue | TBA | at Kansas State | Bramlage Coliseum | TBD |
| Jan. 10 | Sun | TBA | at Baylor | Foster Pavilion | TBD |
| Jan. 13 | Wed | TBA | vs Iowa State | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Jan. 16 | Sat | TBA | at Colorado | CU Events Center | TBD |
| Jan. 19 | Tue | TBA | vs Texas Tech | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Jan. 23 | Sat | TBA | at Arizona State | Desert Financial Arena | TBD |
| Jan. 30 | Sat | TBA | vs BYU | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Feb. 1 | Mon | 8 p.m. | vs Kansas | Fertitta Center | ESPN |
| Feb. 6 | Sat | TBA | at Arizona | McKale Center | TBD |
| Feb. 10 | Wed | TBA | at UCF | Addition Financial Arena | TBD |
| Feb. 13 | Sat | TBA | vs Utah | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Feb. 15 | Mon | 8 p.m. | at Texas Tech | United Supermarkets Arena | ESPN |
| Feb. 21 | Sun | TBA | vs Oklahoma State | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Feb. 24 | Wed | TBA | vs Colorado | Fertitta Center | TBD |
| Feb. 27 | Sat | TBA | at West Virginia | Hope Coliseum | TBD |
| Mar. 2 | Tue | TBA | at Cincinnati | Fifth Third Arena | TBD |
| Mar. 6 | Sat | TBA | vs Arizona | Fertitta Center | TBD |
First Round - Tuesday, March 9
Second Round - Wednesday, March 10
Quarterfinals - Thursday, March 11
Semifinals - Friday, March 12
Championship - Saturday, March 13
CLICK HERE for news and info about the Coogs' men's basketball team.
