AP Photo/Nate Billings
University of Houston guard Milos Uzan (7) drives against Idaho guard Kolton Mitchell (14) during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Oklahoma City.
For the seventh year in a row, the University of Houston’s men’s basketball team is headed to the Sweet Sixteen, and fans are going to have to pay top dollar to watch the Cougars play at home.
On Thursday, March 26, UH will face off against Illinois at the Toyota Center in Houston for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball South Regional semi-final. For the Cougars, this will be their seventh consecutive trip to the Sweet Sixteen — the longest active streak in NCAA Division I history. UH is currently ranked 2nd in the South Region, while Illinois is ranked 3rd.
Tickets to the game are already sold out, but resale tickets are still available for those willing to pay a steep price.
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After the Cougars’ victory over Texas A&M Sunday evening, UH Athletic Director Eddie Nunez said via a social media post that fans should use the AXS website to buy resale tickets.
Cougar Fans-we are continuing to work every angle on tickets but our recommendation is use this site that will get you the best chance to secure a seat.
Additional info on pregame events, viewing parties, parking options, etc. will come tomorrow.https://t.co/DqLhpyeRm2
— Eddie Nunez (@EddieNunezAD) March 23, 2026
As of Wednesday morning, the cheapest seats on offer in the approximately 19,000-seat Toyota Center were running for $407.88 in section 404, according to the AXS website. The most expensive resale ticket, for section 107 at half court, was going for $8,158. However, other tickets in the same section were going for a mere $2,754.
Thursday tickets via AXS include entry for both “session one” games, which include the Iowa vs Nebraska game, followed by the UH vs Illinois game.
On Saturday, March 28, the Toyota Center will host the Final Eight game between the victors of Thursday night’s games. Tickets for Saturday’s game are sold separately on AXS’s website.
AXS tickets for Saturday are currently going for as low as $193 to up to $5,648.
Seatgeek, a third-party ticket resale market, is only selling combined tickets for the Thursday and Saturday games. Tickets on SeatGeek’s website are going for $825 to over $5,000 for a single ticket.
For those not wanting to cough up several hundred dollars to watch the game in person, Thursday’s games will be broadcast on TBS and truTV.
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