The Houston Cougars drew a lucky 13 in the NCAA tournament seeding on Sunday, matching them up with 13-3 Maryland out of the Atlantic Coast Conference.  

The Coogs and Terrapins will face off as part of the Mid-West Region in Spokane, Wash. on Friday.

Houston’s bracket is a tough one.  If Houston makes it past Maryland, their second round opponent would be the winner of a Michigan State-New Mexico State matchup.  If they continue to advance, the Coogs will have to play the Kansas Jayhawks, the tournament’s top seed.  The CUSA champs enter the Big Dance as true underdogs.

The competition begins with Maryland.  The Terrapins average 79.3 points per game shooting .472 from the field.  Their opponents are shooting 67.5 points per game at a .388 clip.  Maryland is led on the court by senior Greivis Vasquez, the ACC Player of the Year, who is averaging 19.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game.

The Cougars, though, have momentum on their side.  After whipping through Conference USA with four victories in four days, Houston is playing loose with nothing to lose.  After a tumultuous regular season, the Coogs appeared to put it all together in the conference tournament.  If the team can continue to create turnovers and hoist open shots, March could get a bit madder still in Houston.  

“Nobody expects us to win, and I feel like we can beat anybody if we play our A game,” said UH guard Adam Brown.  “I feel like we're peaking.”