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All eyes are on Houston for March Madness as the Cougars play to win it all.
Driving the news: Houston, with the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, will take on the No. 16 seed Northern Kentucky Norse tonight in Alabama in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Why it matters: The crowd-pleasing Coogs are expected to make a deep run in the tournament and are vying for a chance to play in the Final Four in their own backyard.
State of play: It won't be an easy road for UH, which faces a Northern Kentucky team coming off five straight wins — including the Horizon League championship game, which landed them a berth in March Madness.
- The Cougars, by contrast, just lost in the final of the American Athletic Conference tourney.
- Houston is also likely playing without star Marcus Sasser, who missed the AAC championship game with an injury.
What we're watching: Basketball, and lots of it. Tipoff is at 8:20pm on TNT.
- Other tournament games start at 11:15am Thursday.
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