SAN ANTONIO — One week out from the Final Four’s official return to San Antonio, two teams from the Lone Star State are trying to make history.
With Texas Tech and Houston’s wins in the Sweet 16 on Thursday and Friday, respectively, they got one step closer to becoming the first Texas men’s college basketball programs to make it to the Final Four when it’s held in the Lone Star State.
This is the 11th time a Texas city has hosted the Final Four, an assignment bestowed upon San Antonio (five times, including 2025), Houston (four times), Dallas and Arlington. 2018 was the last time the Alamo City hosted the NCAA Men’s Final Four; that year, Villanova triumphed over Michigan.
Over the state’s history of hosting the men’s Final Four, just three teams found themselves in the position that the Red Raiders and Cougars do now.
In 2008, the 2-seed Texas Longhorns lost their Elite Eight matchup 85-67 to 1-seed Memphis, which would go on to be the tournament runner-up. Ironically, that game was played in Houston, but the home-state advantage was not on the Longhorns’ side.
Then, in 2018, another Texas squad fell just short of reaching the Final Four at the Alamodome: Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were a 3-seed that year as well, but pulled a tough Elite Eight assignment against the eventual champion Villanova.
They fell, 71-59, in what would end up being the Wildcats’ narrowest margin of a tournament they otherwise dominated.
Finally, the Longhorns also had their shot in 2023 of making it to the Final Four at Houston’s NRG Stadium. But they lost their Elite Eight matchup to Miami, 88-81.
Fast-forward to this weekend, when both the Cougars and Red Raiders will be looking to complete that unfinished business. The teams are dreaming of home-state advantage in the Final Four round and the shortest drive a Texas men’s CBB team has ever had to that stage in the tourney… but first have to notch one more victory in the Elite Eight this weekend.
Texas Tech plays the 1-seeded Florida Gators on Saturday at 5:09 p.m. CT (TBS/TruTV), after beating 10-seed Arkansas, 85-83, in an overtime victory Thursday. Houston – which beat 4-ssed Purdue in a 62-60 thriller Friday night – plays 2-seed Tennessee at 1:20 p.m. on Sunday (CBS).
Will both teams make history and prepare for a short road trip to the Final Four next week?