Looking back at 2023 in Houston sports, the Astros were the big winners even if they didn’t make it to the World Series again, and the Texans and Rockets showed signs of getting back to winning ways leading to an interesting 2024.
astros
The 2023 season demonstrated both the stubborn resilience that prolonged the Astros’ golden era and the high standards that era produced.
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Houston overcame injuries and rotations to its spiritual leader (Jose Altuve) and top slugger (Jordan Alvarez) to win the division and advance to the American League Championship Series for an unprecedented seventh consecutive year. However, the Astros’ campaign ended just one win away from returning to the World Series, as the Texas Rangers thwarted their bid to become the first team to win back-to-back baseball championships since the 1998-2000 Yankees.
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The veteran team should be back in contention, as it is expected to return largely intact in 2024. The Astros will turn over catching duties to Yainer Diaz after Martin Maldonado leaves in free agency, but the Astros will have a strong lineup led by Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez in what could be a big year. Maintain rotation. Cornerstone Altuve and Alex Bregman are set to become free agents next winter, hinting at a potential change.
texans
For years, Texans fans have had to endure low-budget contracts, lame duck coaches, and terrible football, so this must feel like heaven.
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They went from the NFL’s worst defense against the run to the sixth-best defense. And they went from 31st to 11th in total offense last season.th.
If they win their final two games, the Texans will qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Who would have said that a year ago when firing the third coach in three seasons?
The Texans are trying to build this for the long term. The key will be to continue to draft well, build a defense that has gotten better but is too inconsistent, and continue to surround Stroud with weapons that can continue his desired trajectory. .
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— Jonathan M. Alexander
rocket
If 2023 showed us anything about the Rockets, it was that all the talk about “Phase 2” wasn’t just a marketing slogan or an effort to make the dark days of rebuilding and defeat more palatable.
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The Rockets spent three seasons aiming for the summer of 2023, and once they got there, they replaced coach Stephen Silas with Im Udoka, saved up spending room, and splurged in free agency.
The Rockets’ long-term chances still appear to hinge on the development of draft picks Shengun, Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Tali Eason, Armen Thompson and possibly Cam Whitmore. Jaylen Green is ending the year with the deepest slump of his career, but the Rockets are making a long-awaited move in a better direction, emerging from the league’s worst three-year record to becoming a solid play-in candidate. Ta–or a better stage.
dynamo/dash
It’s been another year of change, both good and bad, for Houston’s two professional soccer franchises.
For Dynamo, the question in 2024 is whether the club can maintain or surpass the success they achieved in Olsen’s first year. After the season, Houston extended the contracts of midfielder Artur and breakout player Griffin Dorsey, keeping most of the team intact around captain Hector Herrera.
University of Houston
Will 2024 be that year? Over the past three seasons, Kelvin Sampson has led the University of Houston to the Final Four, Elite Eight, and Sweet 16. All Sampson has left of a Hall of Fame-worthy career is the elusive first national title in program history. “It’s time to talk about Houston as a national title contender,” ESPN wrote in its latest NCAA Tournament predictions, as the Cougars enter discussions to become the region’s No. 1 seed for the second year in a row. With the best defense in the country in guards Jamal Shehed, LJ Cryer and Emmanuel Sharpe, the Cougars should be ready for another March run.
Next door, Fritz takes over a football program that went 4-8 and missed a bowl game in 2023. A revamped Big 12 awaits, with Texas and Oklahoma moving to the SEC and the addition of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah Pac-12 schools. It may take some time for the Cougars to compete under Fritz, but a postseason appearance should be their immediate goal.
University of Texas
The fact that the Longhorns won’t finish their football season until the end of 2023 tells you what you need to know about the University of Texas athletics program.
Yes, the Longhorns won the volleyball title and the women’s outdoor track and field title and reached the postseason in men’s and women’s basketball and baseball, but it’s still a football story.
Coach Steve Sarkisian, in his third season on the job, has upgraded his lineup and attitude to compete in the SEC, where the Longhorns will move in 2024.
Texas A&M
Jimbo Fisher entered 2023 believing Texas A&M might end the season in Houston on Jan. 8 in the College Football Playoff title game.
Instead, Fisher spent most of the last month at a ranch near Hearn. The Aggies fired Fisher, who won a national title at Florida State 10 years ago, in mid-November after failing to contend for a Southeastern Conference title in six seasons.
A&M believed change was necessary for long-term success, but firing Fisher means the Aggies will be able to move on from the once-promising 2024 season (with an experienced, talented roster and an advantageous roster). (based on their schedule) into what amounts to a rebuild under new coach Mike. Elko was hired by Duke.
A&M’s roster will look very different in 2024 based on multiple defections, and how much success the Aggies enjoy will depend, in part, on how well Elko navigates the transfer portal. A&M plans to start quarterback Connor Weigman, who returned from a broken leg for at least four games this season.
Olympic
If you had to describe 2023 in one word in the world of Olympic sports, it might be “comeback.”
Biles’ undefeated return so far has all been in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will likely be the 26-year-old’s last Olympics. But the future face of American women’s gymnastics could be in France this summer. Young Olympic hopefuls, including Zoe Miller and Jocelyn Roberson, are among those who train with Biles in the spring at the World Champions Center gymnasium owned by Biles’s girlfriend’s parents.
Gold medal-winning swimmer Simone Manuel also returned to competition in 2023 after taking a year off to focus on her mental health. And basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the WNBA and USA Basketball after being released from a Russian prison. Both athletes are likely to participate in the Paris Games, where four new events will be added: breakdancing, surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing.
boxing
Even if it didn’t necessarily end that way, Houston was the city of champions in 2023 when it came to boxing.
Conversely, Jermall Charlo appears to have returned from a 29-month layoff with a win over Jose Benavidez Jr. in November, and has hopes for a title fight in 2024. Foster successfully defended his title in November and will likely compete in the second round. In his win over Eduardo Hernandez that year, the two men traded blows for three minutes before Foster stopped him in the 12th round.
golf
The LPGA returns to the Houston area in a big way with the Chevron Championship at Carlton Woods. Lilia Vu won the LPGA’s first major of the season and then jumped into the pond in 18th place. This is the same thing that the winners often did at the old Dinah Shore tournament in Palm Springs, Calif., before the venue moved to Houston.
Next year is expected to be a successful year with the addition of the LIV Golf Tour, which will be held at Houston Golf Club from June 7th to 9th. This is the fourth professional tournament of the year in the Houston area, including the LPGA Chevron Championship at Carleton Woods in The Woodlands from April 18-21 and the PGA Texas Children’s Houston at Memorial Park from March 28-31. An opening will be held. PGA Tour Champions Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands Country Club.
high school
In 2023, local high schools will gain national attention. That year also had Florida Gators fans chomping at the bit for the future of their athletic program.
Basketball will soon be in the spotlight as 2024 begins. Booker T. Washington inspired the community last year when the boys basketball team advanced to state. Could the Golden Eagles return to San Antonio? And what will happen to the Hitchcock boys as they try to become champions again in Class 3A?
Then there’s track and field. This state tournament never produces so many local gold medalists. But can the Klein Forest and Fort Bend Marshall boys get back to the top of the podium? The Buffs are aiming for a three-peat.