The Cougars will bring back many pieces from their Elite Eight team last season. They accomplished this without arguably their two best players in Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark, who got injured mid-way through the season. Sasser and Mark will likely return to the team, and guard Jamal Shead looks to be coming back as well. Moreover, Houston boasts a great recruiting class, as top-10 player Jarace Walker and top-40 player Terrance Arceneaux will play in the Lone Star state next season.
Even though they must replace key pieces in forward Fabian White, Jr. and guard Taze Moore, the Cougars have more than enough talented pieces to replace their production. With the way head coach Kelvin Sampson coaches defense, and the relative weakness of their conference compared to others in the Power Five, I expect Houston to remain in the top five in the rankings for most of the year.