CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (VirginiaSports.com) – The defending regular-season champions of the Atlantic Coast and American Athletic conferences are set to meet in 2021-22 as part of a two-year agreement between Virginia and Houston, the schools announced Friday (June 25).
UVA captured the 2019 NCAA championship, while Houston advanced to its first NCAA Final Four since 1984 this past season.
In 2021, Virginia will play the Cougars on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at Fertitta Center in Houston. The Cavaliers will host Houston on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.
“We are excited to announce a two-game nonconference series with Houston,” Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said. “Coach Kelvin Sampson has done a great job returning Houston basketball to national prominence. We’re looking forward to a pair of highly-competitive games.”
“We have always had tremendous respect for Coach Tony Bennett and his team,” Sampson said. “We look forward to the challenge of playing Virginia, one of the top programs in the country.”
The Cavaliers and Cougars have been two of the most successful programs in the country over the past four seasons. UVA has posted a 107-20 (.843) record, while Houston is 111-24 (.822). The Cavaliers and Cougars have captured multiple regular-season conference championships, and each program has made three NCAA tournament appearances during the four-year span. The 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.
UVA and Houston last met during the 1989-90 season when the Cavaliers defeated the Cougars 72-54 at University Hall. UVA is 3-3 all-time vs. Houston in the series that dates back to 1982 when the teams squared off in Tokyo, Japan.
