The Houston Cougars have become more adventurous in their non-conference basketball schedule over the past few years. While Houston would usually finish that slate of the schedule undefeated, that has changed for the last two seasons. Coach Kelvin Sampson has been willing to schedule strong competition and well-known programs to truly give a test to his team. It most notably made a difference in the 2024-25 season. The Cougars were significantly challenged during the non-conference portion of the schedule, and it paid dividends for the rest of the year. After going 4-3 to start that season, the Cougars won 31 out of the next 32 games to head to their first national championship game since 1984. In 2024, Houston faced Auburn in Toyota Center in downtown Houston, a team that was ranked highly and made the Final Four that season. That was followed by the Player's Era Tournament in Las Vegas. Houston lost two out of those three games, both in overtime.…