# 1966–67 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

The 1966–67 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the 1966–67 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team played its home games at Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston for the first time. This season marked the team's eighth year as an independent member of the NCAA's University Division. Houston was led by eleventh-year head coach Guy Lewis.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the Cougars finished with a 23–3 overall record. Additionally, they finished seventh in the AP Poll, sixth in the Coaches Poll, were invited to the NCAA tournament, and finished as a third place semifinalist. It was Houston's first ever Final Four appearance.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 12/1/1966 | No. 7 | No. 6 New Mexico | W 96–84 | 1–0 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/3/1966 | No. 7 | at Minnesota | W 86–75 | 2–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| 12/5/1966 | No. 5 | at Michigan | L 75–86 | 2–1 | Yost Field House Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| 12/8/1966 | No. 5 | Southwestern Louisiana | W 89–81 | 3–1 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/10/1966 | No. 5 | Hawaii | W 93–59 | 4–1 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/12/1966 | No. 9 | Saint Mary's | W 90–74 | 5–1 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/14/1966 | No. 9 | Centenary (LA) Bluebonnet Classic | W 97–66 | 6–1 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/15/1966 | No. 9 | Idaho State Bluebonnet Classic | W 111–65 | 7–1 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/17/1966 | No. 9 | San Francisco Bluebonnet Classic | W 90–75 | 8–1 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/20/1966 | No. 8 | Washington Bluebonnet Classic | W 87–65 | 9–1 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/28/1966 | No. 6 | vs. Kent State Holiday Tournament | W 85–73 | 10–1 | Indian Field House Jonesboro, Arkansas |
| 12/29/1966 | No. 6 | at Arkansas State Holiday Tournament | W 68–58 | 11–1 | Indian Field House Jonesboro, Arkansas |
| 1/2/1967 | No. 5 | Tennessee Tech | W 95–69 | 12–1 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 1/5/1967 | No. 5 | at Lamar Tech | W 82–62 | 13–1 | McDonald Gym Beaumont, Texas |
| 1/14/1967 | No. 4 | West Texas State | W 103–72 | 14–1 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 1/28/1967 | No. 3 | at Washington | L 78–81 | 14–2 | Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington |
| 1/31/1967 | No. 6 | at Nevada Southern | W 103–83 | 15–2 | NSU Gym Paradise, Nevada |
| 2/9/1967 | No. 5 | Hardin–Simmons | W 92–85 | 16–2 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 2/11/1967 | No. 5 | at Notre Dame | L 78–87 | 16–3 | Notre Dame Fieldhouse Notre Dame, Indiana |
| 2/13/1967 | No. 7 | at Creighton | W 87–80 | 17–3 | Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska |
| 2/15/1967 | No. 7 | St. Mary's | W 122–58 | 18–3 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 2/18/1967 | No. 7 | at Miami (FL) | W 105–86 | 19–3 | Miami Beach Exhibition Hall Miami Beach, Florida |
| 2/23/1967 | No. 7 | at West Texas State | W 120–76 | 20–3 | West Texas State Fieldhouse Canyon, Texas |
| 2/25/1967 | No. 7 | Creighton | W 87–73 | 21–3 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 2/28/1967 | No. 7 | Loyola (LA) | W 106–64 | 22–3 | Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 3/4/1967 | No. 7 | at Air Force | W 90–80 | 23–3 | Cadet Gymnasium Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/11/1967 | No. 7 | vs. New Mexico State Regional quarterfinals – First round | W 59–58 | 24–3 | Moby Gymnasium Fort Collins, Colorado |
| 3/17/1967 | No. 7 | at No. 3 Kansas Regional semifinals – Sweet Sixteen | W 66–53 | 25–3 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| 3/19/1967 | No. 7 | vs. SMU Regional finals – Elite Eight | W 83–75 | 26–3 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| 3/24/1967 | No. 7 | vs. No. 1 UCLA Final Four | L 58–73 | 26–4 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| 3/25/1967 | No. 7 | vs. No. 4 North Carolina Third-place game | W 84–62 | 27–4 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 7 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Coaches | 6 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 |