L.J. Cryer, National Champ at Baylor, Can Now Lead Houston to Same Heights

If March Madness ends with Houston cutting down the nets as the title-winning team in the men's NCAA Tournament bracket, the Cougars' leading scorer will accomplish a feat never before achieved at the college basketball level.

No NCAA men's or women's basketball player has ever won a national championship at two different basketball programs, according to the Associated Press. L.J. Cryer can change that.

The guard won it all as a freshman at Baylor in 2021, and now, as a senior, is in contention to do so again—this time with No. 2 Houston (23-3 record). That first ring, though, came when Cryer was a reserve guard on Baylor's bench.

After three years of developing into one of the Big 12's standout players in Waco, the Katy, Texas, product-turned-high-profile transfer opted to close his collegiate career with the Cougars. And if another title trip is at the end of this season's road, leading Houston there rather than being along for Baylor's ride will make this win even sweeter.

"I didn't have as big a role on the team," Cryer, averaging 15 points per game this season, said after last weekend's win over Texas, via the Houston Chronicle. "Being a part of the team and winning it was a good feeling, but I wanted to go out there and win my own. That's why I came here...I came here to win games."

And win games he has.

Coach Kelvin Sampson's team is fresh off a Monday win over No. 6 Iowa State and could soon be shot up to No. 1 in the rankings thanks to UConn's recent loss. Houston, 10-3 in conference play and leading the Big 12, rides a four-game winning streak into their game Saturday against a familiar opponent for Cryer: No. 11 Baylor.

The ranked Texas foes are scheduled to tip off at noon ET in Waco at Foster Pavilion, with the game airing nationally on CBS. The lone regular-season meeting between these contending teams serves as not just the weekend's premier college matchup or a chance to see Houston's stout defense against Baylor's potent offense—but in a bigger-picture sense, could act as another sign of the Cougars' chances to pummel their way through bracket mania.

Here's where Houston stands with Selection Sunday approaching.

Houston Men's Basketball March Madness Breakdown

The Cougars were ranked third last Saturday when the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee unveiled a preview of the top 16 teams in the bracket. Houston trailed Purdue and UConn, respectively, and sat just ahead of Arizona on the one-line, which chairman Charles McClelland revealed was the unanimous order among the committee.

In the week since that reveal, though, both the Boilermakers and Huskies lost on the road, while the Cougars remain unblemished in that stretch before facing off with the Bears.

So, in other words, Houston's case for the top-overall seed is growing.

Sampson's squad is ranked first in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings, a metric used by the committee when filling out the bracket that factors into account criteria including game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.

Houston, a No. 1 seed last year before losing in the Sweet 16, has tallied a 9-3 record in Quad 1 games this year—tied for the most such wins of any team in the country. In Ken Pomeroy's latest analytical rankings, Houston also takes the top spot with the No. 16 adjusted offense and top adjusted defense in college hoops.

Houston has the 32nd-ranked strength of schedule in men's college basketball, per CBS Sports, and the 186th toughest nonconference slate. ESPN and CBS both currently have the Cougars as a No. 1 seed in the South (Dallas) Region.

Only five games remain on Houston's regular-season schedule, including a finale against Kansas on March 9, before the Big 12 Tournament gets underway.