1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball
1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	31–2
Head coach	Guy Lewis (12th season);
Assistant coaches	Harvey Pate; Don Schverak;
Home arena	Delmar Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 1966–67 1968–69 →

The 1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the 1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team played its home games at Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston for the second consecutive season. This season marked the team's ninth year as an independent member of the NCAA's University Division. Houston was led by twelfth-year head coach Guy Lewis.

ConferenceIndependent

CoachesNo. 1

APNo. 1

Record31–2

Quick facts Houston Cougars men's basketball, NCAA tournament, Final Four ...

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1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Houston		–		–	31	–	2	.939
No. 3 St. Bonaventure		–		–	23	–	2	.920
Army		–		–	20	–	5	.800
Marquette		–		–	23	–	6	.793
New Mexico State		–		–	23	–	6	.793
St. Francis (PA)		–		–	19	–	6	.760
Oklahoma City		–		–	20	–	7	.741
Duquesne		–		–	18	–	7	.720
Florida State		–		–	19	–	8	.704
Fordham		–		–	19	–	8	.704
St. John's		–		–	19	–	8	.704
Dayton		–		–	21	–	9	.700
Notre Dame		–		–	21	–	9	.700
Boston College		–		–	17	–	8	.680
Villanova		–		–	19	–	9	.679
Holy Cross		–		–	15	–	8	.652
Loyola Chicago		–		–	15	–	9	.625
Fairfield		–		–	16	–	10	.615
Texas Western		–		–	14	–	9	.609
Miami (FL)		–		–	17	–	11	.607
Rutgers		–		–	14	–	10	.583
Utah State		–		–	14	–	11	.560
VPI		–		–	14	–	11	.560
Southern Illinois		–		–	13	–	11	.542
DePaul		–		–	13	–	12	.520
Detroit		–		–	13	–	12	.520
Seattle		–		–	14	–	13	.519
Jacksonville		–		–	13	–	13	.500
Niagara		–		–	12	–	12	.500
Tulane		–		–	12	–	12	.500
Penn State		–		–	10	–	10	.500
Georgia Tech		–		–	12	–	13	.480
Georgetown		–		–	11	–	12	.478
West Texas State		–		–	10	–	11	.476
Colorado State		–		–	11	–	13	.458
Navy		–		–	9	–	11	.450
Butler		–		–	11	–	14	.440
Denver		–		–	11	–	14	.440
Loyola (LA)		–		–	11	–	14	.440
Providence		–		–	11	–	14	.440
Syracuse		–		–	11	–	14	.440
Boston University		–		–	10	–	14	.417
Northern Illinois		–		–	10	–	14	.417
Colgate		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Hardin–Simmons		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Xavier		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Air Force		–		–	9	–	15	.375
NYU		–		–	8	–	16	.333
Creighton		–		–	8	–	17	.320
Pittsburgh		–		–	7	–	15	.318
Canisius		–		–	7	–	17	.292
Portland		–		–	5	–	21	.192
Centenary		–		–	3	–	23	.115

Rankings from AP Poll

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During the regular season, the Elvin Hayes-fronted Cougars defeated the Lew Alcindor-led UCLA Bruins on January 20 in what was known as the Game of the Century. Houston attained a perfect 28–0 record for regular season, and finished with a 31–2 overall record, the first thirty-win season in program history. The Cougars finished first in both major polls, were invited to the NCAA tournament, and finished as a semifinalist. It was Houston's second consecutive Final Four appearance.

Following the season, Elvin Hayes was drafted into the National Basketball Association by the San Diego Rockets as the first overall draft pick in the 1968 NBA draft. Don Chaney was also taken as the twelfth overall draft pick by the Boston Celtics.

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
12/2/1967	No. 2	Sacramento State	W 110–79	1–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/4/1967	No. 2	Abilene Christian	W 90–75	2–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/7/1967	No. 2	North Dakota State	W 121–88	3–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/9/1967	No. 2	at Illinois	W 54–46	4–0	Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois
12/13/1967	No. 2	George Washington Bluebonnet Classic	W 86–61	5–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/14/1967	No. 2	Montana State Bluebonnet Classic	W 113–67	6–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/16/1967	No. 2	BYU	W 102–69	7–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/18/1967	No. 2	Minnesota	W 103–65	8–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/22/1967	No. 2	at Arizona	W 81–76	9–0	Bear Down Gym Tucson, Arizona
12/23/1967	No. 2	at Nevada Southern	W 94–85	10–0	Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada
12/28/1967	No. 2	vs. Bradley Rainbow Classic	W 69–52	11–0	Honolulu International Center Honolulu, Hawaii
12/29/1967	No. 2	vs. Marquette Rainbow Classic	W 77–65	12–0	Honolulu International Center Honolulu, Hawaii
12/30/1967	No. 2	vs. North Texas State Rainbow Classic	W 45–43	13–0	Honolulu International Center Honolulu, Hawaii
1/2/1968	No. 2	Michigan	W 91–65	14–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/6/1968	No. 2	Centenary (LA)	W 118–81	15–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/13/1968	No. 2	West Texas State	W 98–53	16–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/20/1968 TVS	No. 2	vs. No. 1 UCLA Game of the Century	W 71–69	17–0	Houston Astrodome (52,693) Houston, Texas
1/27/1968	No. 1	Lamar Tech	W 112–79	18–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/29/1968	No. 1	Fairfield	W 108–76	19–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Houston
2/1/1968	No. 1	vs. Marshall	W 102–93	20–0	Madison Square Garden New York City, New York
2/10/1968	No. 1	at Centenary (LA)	W 107–56	21–0	Haynes Gymnasium Shreveport, Louisiana
2/15/1968	No. 1	Miami (FL)	W 106–64	22–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
2/17/1968	No. 1	Air Force	W 106–82	23–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
2/22/1968	No. 1	Texas–Arlington	W 130–75	24–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
2/24/1968	No. 1	Valparaiso	W 158–81	25–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
2/26/1968	No. 1	at Hardin–Simmons	W 105–82	26–0	Rose Fieldhouse Abilene, Texas
3/2/1968	No. 1	Virginia Tech	W 120–79	27–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
3/4/1968	No. 1	at West Texas State	W 107–76	28–0	West Texas State Fieldhouse Canyon, Texas
NCAA tournament
3/9/1968	No. 1	vs. Loyola (IL) Regional quarterfinals – First round	W 94–76	29–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, Utah
3/15/1968	No. 1	vs. No. 9 Louisville Regional semifinals – Sweet Sixteen	W 91–75	30–0	WSU Field House Wichita, Kansas
3/16/1968	No. 1	vs. TCU Regional finals – Elite Eight	W 103–68	31–0	WSU Field House Wichita, Kansas
3/22/1968 SNI	No. 1	vs. No. 2 UCLA Final Four	L 69–101	31–1	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
3/23/1968	No. 1	vs. Ohio State Third-place game	L 85–89	31–2	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Roster

Schedule

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

References

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Fact Checks

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Coaches	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1