In addition to 25 NCAA tournament appearances, the Cougars have won 20 conference championships and have had several players and a coach elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

In their first two seasons, the Cougars won Lone Star Conference regular-season titles and qualified for postseason play in the NAIA Men's Basketball tournaments in 1946 and 1947.

Pasche retired after the 1955–56 season, and Houston assistant Guy Lewis was promoted to the head coaching position.

Lewis's UH teams twice played key roles in high-profile events that helped to popularize college basketball as a spectator sport.

In 1968, his underdog, Elvin Hayes-led Cougars upset the undefeated and top-ranked UCLA Bruins in front of more than 50,000 fans at Houston's Astrodome.

[5] In the early 1980s, Lewis's Phi Slama Jama teams at UH gained notoriety for their fast-breaking, "above the rim" style of play as well as their overall success.

At the height of Phi Slama Jama's notoriety, they suffered a dramatic, last-second loss in the 1983 NCAA Final that set a then-ratings record for college basketball broadcasts and became an iconic moment in the history of the sport.

[7] Houston lost in both NCAA Final games in which Lewis coached, despite his "Phi Slama Jama" teams featuring superstars Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.

In 1983, Houston lost in a dramatic title game to the North Carolina State Wolfpack on a last-second dunk by Lorenzo Charles.

Lewis retired from coaching in 1986 at number 20 in all-time NCAA Division I victories, his 592–279 record giving him a .680 career winning percentage.

As a coach, Lewis was known for championing the once-outlawed dunk,[8] which he characterized as a "high percentage shot", and for clutching a brightly colored red-and-white polka dot towel[9] on the bench during games.

[10] His recruitment of Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney in 1964 ushered in an era of tremendous success in Cougar basketball.

The dominant play of Hayes led the Cougars to two Final Fours and sent shock waves through Southern colleges that realized that they would have to begin recruiting black players if they wanted to compete with integrated teams.

After just two seasons with minimal success, Drexler resigned as head coach citing his intention to spend more time with his family.

[14] Ray McCallum was hired[15] to do what Clyde Drexler could not—lead the Cougars to a winning season and earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.

After a surprising debut season in 2004–05 that led to an NIT appearance, the team had high hopes to build on their relative success and make the NCAA tournament in 2006.

The team that seemed destined for an NCAA tournament berth failed to capitalize on their success and national recognition and began to stumble after a loss to South Alabama Jaguars in December.

Dubbed as "The Show," the 2006–07 Cougars entered the season with cockiness and strong expectations to finally make it into the NCAA tournament.

Houston lost three times to the Memphis Tigers and once each to Arizona, the Creighton Bluejays, the Kentucky Wildcats, South Alabama, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels, and the VCU Rams.

Not surprisingly, two conference tournament wins against lower seeds and an unimpressive 18–15 overall record were not even enough to earn the team an invitation to the NIT.

Fifteen games (three in November, three in December, four in January, three in February, and two in March) were played at Hofheinz Pavilion.

[25] Beginning with the 2013–14 season, Houston joined the newly created American Athletic Conference following the Big East realignment.

In 2022–23, the Cougars' last season in the AAC, the team reached the number one ranking in the AP Poll, marking the first time they had held the top spot since 1983.

[30] Rice is considered to be Houston's main rival, with the Bayou Cup trophy being awarded to the winner of the crosstown rivalry game.