Houston Cougars Streaming Plans to Watch All Games Online Cheaper Than Cable

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As a basketball program that ranks among the most successful in the country, the University of Houston deserves broader television coverage. I’ll show how to watch every Cougars game despite the limited broadcasts.

In a hurry? The ESPN channels generally cover the Cougars when they are on live TV. But many games are only available on ESPN+ so you are best off getting Hulu + Live TV, which includes it. Otherwise, these are all excellent choices:

If you are a college basketball fan and follow the Houston Cougars, you don’t have to miss a minute of the action. Below we discuss all your options and provide complete schedules with times and TV channels.

Houston Cougars March Madness

The Houston Cougars men will take part in March Madness this year after dominating the Big 12.

The women’s team ended the season second from the bottom of the Big 12 and will thus not be participating in the tournament.

TV Channels to Watch Houston Basketball

Many Houston men’s basketball games and some of the women’s games are shown on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU. A handful of men’s games are broadcast by CBS Sports Network (CBSSN) and ABC.

But most games are not featured on live TV at all. Most games are streamed live on ESPN+.

How to Stream Houston Cougars Basketball

Any time a large number of a team’s games are streaming-only on a service like ESPN+, it causes a bit of a problem. This is because it is generally the most important college basketball games that air on live TV. For example, ESPN+ only provides coverage of some regular season games — no playoff games stream on it.

For most Cougars fans, getting the live TV channels is essential. More serious fans need to get both the live TV channels and ESPN+. Here are the options for everyone:

• Hulu + Live TV: If you want to watch every game played by the Houston men’s and women’s basketball teams, this is the service you want. It gives you all the live TV channels you need as well as ESPN+ — all for $82.99/month. (Hulu Live review)
• Fubo (formerly FuboTV): This sports-first service will allow you to watch all the broadcast Cougars games. Get 130+ channels from $79.99/month. (Fubo review)
• Sling TV: The Sling Orange plan gives you ESPN and ESPN2 with tons of options starting at just $45.99/month. (Sling TV review) (March Madness coverage and schedule)
• DIRECTV STREAM: Get a great selection of live TV channels starting at $86.99/month. (DIRECTV STREAM review)
• YouTube TV: Offers a 100+ channel lineup for $82.99/month.

All of these services allow you to live stream on multiple devices at one time. They also all include a cloud DVR.

And they all allow you to stream on the most popular devices including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, and web browsers. You can also stream on mobile devices with Android and iOS. And most also support a number of smart TVs and gaming devices.

Houston Basketball

The Houston Cougars men’s basketball team first suited up shortly after Harry Truman’s Presidential inauguration. This was a time when television was still broadcast in black and white.

With Alden Pasche pacing the sidelines, the Cougars hit the ground running and finished top of the Lone Star Conference in each of their first two seasons. The women’s program started in 1975.

The list of great players who have suited up for the men’s and women’s Cougars teams is a long one. But four names really stand out. The 1983 Cougars team, which came within one point of a national championship, spawned two Hall of Fame professional careers: Clyde “The Glide” Drexler and Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.

On the woman’s side, Chandi Jones and Sancho Lyttle both went on to play in the WNBA and represent their countries in international competition.

This season, the Cougars will be playing in the Big 12 Conference along with teams including the UFC Knights, the BYU Cougars, and the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Houston Men’s Basketball

Houston’s six appearances in the NCAA Final Four have earned the Cougars the dubious distinction of being the most successful program to never come home with the coveted trophy. The Cougars came closest to a National Championship in 1983 when they were pipped by a basket in the Championship Game by Jim Valvano’s NC State Wolfpack.

Cougars fans are hoping finally to put that pain behind them in 2023, and Houston does have a team that could go all the way. The Cougars are number two in the AP Top 25 college basketball rankings. And they sit atop the American Athletic Conference (AAC) standings with only one loss in their first 19 games.

Kelvin Sampson has been the head coach of the Cougars since 2014. Through last year, he’s seen Houston to a 199-70 (74%) record. And they’ve done even better this year.

Standout players on the current Houston roster include:

• LJ Cryer (Guard, points leader)
• J’wan Roberts (Forward, rebounds leader)
• Jamal Shead (Guard, assists/steals leader)
• Ja’v’Vier Francis (Forward, blocks leader)

Other important players: Damian Dunn, Emanuel Sharp, Mylik Wilson, Joseph Tugler, Ramon Walker Jr, Cedric Lath, and Ryan Elvin.

2023-24 Men’s Basketball Schedule

Houston Women’s Basketball

The Houston women’s team posted an impressive 17-8 record in 2021, but they only managed to finish one game over 500 last year. They currently sit second in the AAC. But they will not be able to catch first-place South Florida.

The Houston Cougars reached the NCAA Tournament in 1988, 1992, 2004, 2005 and 2011, but they have never progressed beyond the second round.

That won’t bother the current players too much though because Houston has some of the most loyal and passionate college basketball fans in the country. The women play their home games on campus at the Feritta Center, and they are greeted by a capacity crowd just about every time they take the court.

Standout players include Laila Blair (points leader), Peyton McFarland (rebounds and blocked shots), Nyah Boyd (assists), and Kamryn Jones (steals). Blair is particularly dangerous with the ball in her hands. She scores more than 15 points per game, and she gets almost a third of those points from beyond the three-point line.

2023-24 Women’s Basketball Schedule

Our Choice

After testing a bunch of options, Hulu + Live TV came out on top for watching Houston Cougars games. It’s got everything—ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and even ESPN+ for those exclusive matchups you won’t find elsewhere. The streaming quality is solid, the interface is easy to use, and the cloud DVR means you can record games and watch whenever. Some other services, like Fubo and DIRECTV STREAM, have the main ESPN channels, but they don’t include ESPN+, which is a dealbreaker if you want every Cougars game. With a great mix of live and on-demand content, Hulu + Live TV just makes the most sense.

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Frank Moraes

I am a Senior Content Editor at Hotdog.com, specializing in sports streaming and regional programming issues. With a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and extensive experience in remote sensing technology, including early video streaming, I bring a unique technical perspective to the streaming industry.

My expertise in sports coverage, particularly for out-of-market games and regional sports networks, stems from years of hands-on experience as an early adopter of streaming services and my work addressing fans' viewing challenges. As a longtime cord-cutter and subscriber to multiple streaming platforms, I combine my technical knowledge with practical user experience, making me a leading expert in the field of sports streaming and entertainment technology.

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