Well, the Big 12 conference is back where it belongs, and that is playing for a national championship in the NCAA tournament. Houston, Florida Monday night. Welcome in. I'm Pete Mundo. He's Matthew Postens, our lead, a Big 12 basketball writer. We're Heartland College Sports.com, where we cover the Big 12. We're glad that you are here. Make sure that

you like the video as always. Subscribe to the channel and same thing on the podcast. Well,

Matthew, we made it. First time we're talking about one of our teams in the national championship

since Kansas three years ago. How are you feeling about Houston's odds after that incredible final four comeback on Saturday?

Yeah, it's funny.

I, after the game, some of the Houston players and even Kelvin Sampson likened it to that double over time, went over Kansas, which I think was in late January.

So I went back and looked at their game after that, because I was just curious,

how did they play after that game?

They played West Virginia.

Now, obviously, West Virginia is not Florida.

But I think that game ended up being like a 66 to 49 final.

So if you're talking about energy level, I feel good about Houston

going into Monday night. There are parts of this matchup I really don't like for them,

but the same went for Duke two nights ago. They were parts of that matchup I hated for Houston

and they found a way to figure out that game and figured out a way to win it.

And, you know, right now they feel like the team that as long as they're within striking distance at the end of the game, they're going to figure out a way to win.

Doesn't it feel too? And it's so cliche. But you've got a coach looking for win number 800, a veteran coach looking to get to

the mountain top, a veteran team. And you saw that play out on Saturday night where, listen, Duke may

have had more talent at the top end. Cooper flag is going to be the number one pick in the NBA draft.

But at this stage of the tournament, you cannot buy experience.

And man, Houston has guys who have played together for years. That's pretty rare in today's

college basketball landscape and a coach who was in no way flustered in those final eight

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