'Carrying big, heavy trophies never gets old': Third Ward neighbors Houston, Texas Southern score Big Dance invites

A pair of universities that call Houston's Third Ward neighborhood home have secured bids to this year's NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

Physically separated by Scott Street, the University of Houston and Texas Southern University (TSU) punched their tickets to the "Big Dance" over the weekend by winning their respective conference tournaments for the second consecutive year.

For the Houston Cougars, it's unfinished business. 

Kelvin Sampson's program made its first Final Four appearance last year since two future NBA legends Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler were wowing the then-Hofheinz Pavilion crowds with their ferocious dunks. 

The Cougars; however, were ousted by a superior, offensive-minded Baylor team that went on to win the national championship. 

Eighteenth-ranked Houston, which defeated Memphis to clinch its back-to-back AAC crown, enters March Madness as the fifth seed, drawing 12th-seeded University of Alabama-Birmingham to open the tournament in San Diego on March 18, according to a press release.

"Carrying big, heavy trophies never gets old," the program said in a tweet.

While the road back is more difficult without stars Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark, Houston will look to all-AAC honorees Fabian White and Kyler Edwards to continue to play at a higher level.

It's the Cougars' fourth straight appearance.

TSU is among the teams in the tournament's First Four after winning its second SWAC title in a row, according to HBCU Gameday. 

The 16th-seeded Tigers hope Lady Luck will ride with them again like she did last year when they pulled off an upset. 

If Johnny Jones's group defeats Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Dayton, Ohio Tuesday (March 15) then they earn a trip to Fort Worth to face first-seeded Kansas. 

"Time to go dancing again!" the Tigers' official Twitter account declared.

HBCU Gameday reported that the Tigers lack double-digit scorers, but they make up for it with a consistent offensive attack.

James Walker III, Karl Nicholas and Bryson Etienne each average close to 10 points a contest, according to the website.

This is the same team that shocked Florida on the Gators' floor 69-54 last December.

Houston and TSU represent Texas's largest city among the Lone Star State's entries in the tournament, the Houston Chronicle reported. 

The other five schools are Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU and TAMU-CC.