Houston claws its way back to No. 1 in AP Top 25 poll
San Diego State still lone MWC entry; Texas A&M, Northwestern now ranked
Houston returned to No. 1 in the AP men’s college basketball poll on Monday for the third time this season, while Northwestern and Texas A&M barged into the rankings after each had a pair of impressive wins last week.
The Cougars, riding a sevengame winning streak, jumped over Alabama and back into the top spot, where they spent two weeks in November and December and had another two-week stint last month. They picked up 48 first-place votes from the 62-member national media panel to lay claim to No. 1 with just two weeks left in the regular season.
“This is my fourth year coaching these guys. We’ve developed a really good program here,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, referring to his veteran leaders that went to a Final Four two years ago and the Elite Eight last season. “But the emphasis is ‘we have.’ One person doesn’t do it. I’m proud of our program. I’m proud of everyone in it.”
The Crimson Tide dropped only one spot after losing to Tennessee and routing Georgia in their lone week at No. 1. They held onto seven first-place votes, while Kansas also earned seven to climb two spots to No. 3 in this week’s poll.
UCLA remained at No. 4 while Purdue slid two spots to round out of the top five.
“We’re not as good a basketball team, from a tactical standpoint, as last year’s basketball team yet,” said Jayhawks coach Bill Self, whose team is trying to become the first back-to-back national champions since Florida in 2006 and ‘07. “From a competitive standpoint, this team is an equivalent, or on par, with that team.”
That was evident Saturday, when the Jayhawks rallied from 17 down to beat No. 9 Baylor 87-71 in Allen Fieldhouse.
Virginia was at No. 6 after beating Louisville and Notre Dame last week. Arizona was seventh while Texas fell two spots to eighth after losing to Texas Tech and needing overtime to beat Oklahoma. The Bears held their spot while Marquette moved back into the top 10.
The Volunteers dropped to No. 11 after following up their win over Alabama with a loss to Kentucky. Gonzaga, Miami and Kansas State were next, with Saint Mary’s giving the West Coast Conference two teams in the top 15.
The Gaels (24-5, 13-1) and Bulldogs (23-5, 12-2) each play midweek games before their showdown on Saturday.
Xavier held steady at No. 16 this week while Indiana, UConn, Creighton and Providence rounded out the top 20.
Northwestern entered the poll for the first time in more than two years at No. 21 after following its upset of Purdue two weeks ago with wins over the Hoosiers and Iowa. San Diego State, Iowa State and TCU were next, with Texas A&M making it back into the poll after spending one week at No. 24 in November.
Monday
NO. 3 KANSAS 63, NO. 24 TCU 58:
In Fort Worth, Texas, Gradey Dick scored 19 points, Kevin McCullar Jr. had 15 and thirdranked Kansas extended its winning streak to five games with a win over No. 24 TCU.
Jalen Wilson, the Big 12 scoring leader held to seven points, did have 13 rebounds for the Jayhawks (23-5, 11-4 Big 12), who began the night tied with idle eighth-ranked Texas for the conference lead. They have won seven of eight games since a threegame losing streak that included a 23-point home loss to the Horned Frogs.
Damion Baugh missed a potential tying 3-pointer with five seconds left for TCU (18-10, 7-8). Shahada Wells then missed a followup layup before McCullar was fouled and made two free throws.
Mike Miles Jr. had 13 points for TCU, which has lost five of its last six games . Coles added 12 points.