Top-seeded Houston is not the type of team that overlooks a first-round NCAA Tournament foe.Veteran coach Kelvin Sampson simply won’t allow it and he seems genuinely offended when it is suggested that his Cougars (30-4) are about to play an overmatched opponent when they face 16th-seed SIU Edwardsville (22-11) on Thursday in Midwest Region first-round play at Wichita, Kan.”If I’m not mistaken, this is my 20th year (actually 21st) taking a team to the tournament and I’ve approached every tournament the same,” Sampson said. “It’s a one-game season.”There have been only two occasions when a 16 seed has upset a 1 — UMBC routed Virginia 74-54 in 2018 and Fairleigh Dickinson stunned Purdue 63-58 in 2023.Still, Sampson isn’t going to count on Houston’s seventh straight first-round victory happening until the clock strikes zero.The winner of this game faces either eighth-seeded Gonzaga or ninth-seeded Georgia.Predictably, Sampson has no thoughts to offer on either of those teams.”In this business, we never look ahead; that’s for the experts and the pundits to do,” Sampson said. “Somebody asked me one time about my word about this game versus another game. I don’t know another game — only know the one we’re playing. Some people may like it, some people don’t.”Houston certainly is a hot team with 13 consecutive wins and 26 of its past 27. The Cougars have enjoyed solid success in the NCAA Tournament in recent years with a Final Four (2021), Elite Eight (2022) and three Sweet 16s over the last five tourneys.They had some major misfortune last season when All-America point guard Jamal Shead badly sprained his right ankle and missed the final 26 1/2 minutes of a 54-51 loss to Duke in the Sweet 16.But Houston went a spectacular 19-1 in the Big 12 this season and also won the conference postseason tournament. The Cougars are on the short list of teams that could cut down the nets early next month.L.J. Cryer averages leads the team in scoring (15.2 points per game) and 3-pointers (100). Emanuel Sharp averages 12.6 points with 74 3-point makes and Milos Uzan is contributing 11.5 points and a team-best 4.3 assists.