New Orleans, Louisiana - As men's college basketball's March Madness draws near, No. 1 Houston will welcome fellow American Athletic Conference (AAC) foe Tulane in a showdown for the conference's top spot!

The Houston Cougars will meet Tulane coming off a five-day break with no games contested.

In their last showing against the University of South Florida, the Cougars held off the Bulls 83-77 to garner their eighth-straight victory. Houston (17-1, 5-0 AAC), earned the win without their second-leading scorer Jarace Walker and top reserve Ramon Walker Jr.

Struggling to maintain a healthy roster, Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson hopes to get a full strength team against the Green Wave.

"We got a little break here, so hopefully we can get some bodies back, get healthy, heal the wounded, feed the sick and do all that stuff and move on to the next one," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said after narrowly beating USF. "This has been a tough stretch," he said. "We’ve got so many guys out."

The matchup against Tulane (12-5, 5-1) on Tuesday will come with the high stakes of who will be crowned as the leader of the AAC.

The Green Wave will meet Houston with a five-straight win record after defeating UCF 77-69 on Saturday. In their win, Tulane put on the highest three-point percentage in the AAC.

"This is one of the biggest games that we’ve played," Tulane head coach Ron Hunter said following the big win over the Knights. "This is a team people think should be in the NCAA tournament. We had to have this win."

The AAC showdown between Houston and Tulane is set for Tuesday at the Green Wave's home court at 7 PM EST.