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For the third time in five years, Syracuse is headed to the Sweet 16. The Orange upset No. 6 seed San Diego State and No. 3 seed West Virginia in the first two rounds, respectively, and are now set to face No. 2 seed Houston. 

The Cougars are on one of their most successful runs since the Phi Slama Jama team of the 80s. Here are 10 fun facts about Houston:

1. Humble beginnings

When Houston was founded in 1927, the university didn’t have its own building. Students of what was then called Houston Junior College took night classes at San Jacinto High School. The local high school was the site of classes until UH finally got its own campus in 1939.

2. Dunk on ‘em

The 1982-83 Phi Slama Jama team dunked an estimated 200 times in the 34-game season. Guy Lewis’ Cougars were known for being flashy with their play, preferring dunks to any other form of scoring — including free throws, which they were notoriously poor at. That season, Houston only lost three games, including a December loss in the Carrier Dome.

Ironically, the Cougars lost the 1983 title game to NC State on a last-second dunk.

3. Home sweet Dome

Move over Carrier Dome — Houston’s got you beat. Built in 1965, the Astrodome was the world’s first domed stadium. The Astrodome was originally home to the Houston Astros, Oilers and Rockets before all three built their own venues years later. For the past several decades, the Astrodome has primarily sat empty.

The Astrodome was also the first major sports venue to install artificial turf, inspiring the name of the brand AstroTurf.

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What else you should know before Syracuse takes on Houston:

• Joe Girard’s postseason improvements fly under radar in Syracuse backcourt
  
• The NBA buzz around Buddy Boeheim’s superstar March
  
• No. 11 Syracuse defied odds again. So how far can the Orange go?
  
• Beat writer Q&A: Houston Chronicle’s Joseph Duarte previews SU-Houston
  
• Jesse Edwards still isn’t ready to become SU’s starting center, but he’s almost there
  
• Beat writers disagree about whether SU will beat Houston
  

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4. Game of the century

Houston and UCLA faced off in 1968 in what was the first nationally broadcasted regular-season NCAA basketball game in prime time. The Cougars upset the reigning national champs 71-69 in the Astrodome. Prior to this game, some assumed that fans would only watch nationally televised college football games. Many experts say that this game helped pave the way for March Madness by garnering a national interest in college basketball. 

5. Whose house?

From 1947 to 1989, Houston’s on-campus mascot was a live cougar. Shasta — “She has to” — attended both home and away football games. There were five different cougars to serve as Shasta over nearly 40 years, with Shasta I as the longest-serving. After Shasta V died of kidney failure, Houston retired the live mascot and moved to a costumed Cougar mascot.

In 2012, the university adopted Shasta VI in a partnership with the Houston Zoo. He does not travel to football games like the previous cougars did, but he occasionally appears in events and lives in more “humane” conditions.

6. The cougar paw

In 1953, the toe of Shasta I was severed on a cage door on a trip to Austin, Texas. Opposing fans noticed the injury and held one hand in the air during the game, bending their ring finger to their palm to mock the Cougars by calling them weak opponents. This eventually became a symbol of pride for the Cougars, and the hand sign is made by Houston fans at sporting events.

7. Blaze it 

Since 1991, an old oil field siren — called “the Blaze” — has sounded during Houston football games. A callback to when there was an oil rush in Houston, the siren was acquired after complaints that the football team didn’t have any defining symbol. The Blaze was named after David Carl Blazek, a supporter of the university who died in 1991.

8. Duck fight

During a football game in 2007, the Oregon Duck mascot attacked the costumed Shasta while he was doing pushups. Unfortunately for the duck mascot, the man inside the cougar was a football player, who tackled them and walked away. The duck mascot, who responded by punching Shasta in the face and imitating sexual acts on the mascot, was suspended for Oregon’s next name. The identity of the student inside the duck suit is still unknown.

9. Rodeo shows

RodeoHouston is the largest livestock show and rodeo in the world. Every year, millions of people come out for the 20-day event. Some events at RodeoHouston include trail rides, the World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest, livestock auctions and of course, a rodeo.

10. Ain’t no party like a Texas party

Frontier Fiesta is a three-day event that takes place on Houston’s campus every year. The festival usually attracts local attention, as it’s a weekend of concerts, carnival games, variety shows and cooking competitions. The weekend also includes big name artists, who give concerts on campus.

Published on March 24, 2021 at 10:22 pm

aekaylor@syr.edu | @cincinnallie