The Cougars, led by third year head coach James Dickey, played their home games at Hofheinz Pavilion and participated as a member of Conference USA.

The season marked the last for the Cougars as a member of C-USA as they joined the American Athletic Conference in July 2013.

This placed the team as the number six seed in the C-USA tournament and a matchup with cross-town rival Rice in the first round.

The Cougars won the game 72–67 and advanced to the quarterfinals to face UTEP where they lost 69–80.

[2] Houston defeated the Longhorns and advanced to the quarterfinals where they lost to George Mason in overtime.