Kelvin Sampson watched his Houston team come within seconds of the first NCAA title for both himself and the program.

Houston earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year and will open against first-time qualifier SIU-Edwardsville in Wichita, Kansas, on Thursday.

Houston was the lone No. 1 seed left in the tournament for about 30 minutes on Friday night, until its own run ended with an 89-75 loss to Miami in the Sweet 16.

Houston is the No. 1 team in the AP men's college basketball poll.

Jim Nantz will step away from calling the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament after next year and will be succeeded by Ian Eagle.

Yes, Houston is going back to the Final Four for the first time since the famed “Phi Slama Jama” era after Monday night's 67-61 win against Oregon State. And Houston knocked down enough free throws late while holding Oregon State without a basket during a critical 3 1/2 minutes. Fittingly, it was DeJon Jarreau — the American Athletic Conference's defensive player of the year who led the effort that stymied Oregon State star Ethan Thompson — who was named the most outstanding player of the Midwest Region. “It was right there within our grasp with the effort we showed in the second half,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. They held the Beavers to 35% shooting in the first half before Oregon State found some openings.

Now it's taken coach Kelvin Sampson's team somewhere new: the program's deepest NCAA Tournament run since the days of Olajuwon, Drexler and the famed “Phi Slama Jama." That sent the second-seeded Cougars through to their first regional final in 37 years, earning a matchup with No. Houston (27-3) came in holding opponents to a national-low 37.3% shooting, and then harassed Syracuse (18-10) into just 28% (14 for 50). “It’s the best defense that that we’ve seen this year and they deserved to win,” coach Jim Boeheim said. Syracuse had shot at least 52% each time while making 29 3-pointers — but there would be no repeat of that unexpected 2016 Final Four run thanks to Houston's defense.