HOUSTON (AP) - The Lone Star State will be wellrepresented in the NCAA tournament.

A total of seven Texas schools made the field, tying a record set by California in 2002. Houston, North Texas and Sam Houston State secured automatic berths by winning their conference tournaments. Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and UTEP earned at-large berths.

Texas already holds the record for most schools to have appeared in the tournament (23), but never had more than five in a single field.

The Cougars (19-15) are the biggest surprise of the group, winning four straight games at the Conference USA tournament to nab the program’s first berth since 1992. Houston coach Tom Penders becomes the ninth coach to lead four different schools to the NCAA tournament.