Houston returns to No. 1 in Top 25; Gaels climb to No. 15
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.
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.
Gonzaga moved up one spot to No. 12 after wins over Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine. Saint Mary's, which sits atop the WCC a game ahead of the Bulldogs, moved up two spots to No. 15 after wins over San Diego and BYU.
The Gaels (24-5, 13-1) and Bulldogs (23-5, 12-2) each play midweek games before their showdown on Saturday.
Gamecocks top poll for 35th straight time
South Carolina survived one of its stiffest tests of the season to remain No. 1 in The Associated Press women's college basketball poll, earning 27 of the 28 first-place votes.
The Gamecocks (27-0) topped Mississippi in overtime on Sunday to win their 33rd consecutive game and secure the top spot in the poll for a 35th consecutive week.
Indiana got the other first place vote and stayed second in the poll. The Hoosiers have won 14 consecutive games and are 9-0 against AP Top 25 teams — the most wins against ranked opponents of any team.
Stanford, UConn and LSU round out the top five teams.
NFL: Veteran NFL coach Vic Fangio was introduced as the Miami Dolphins new defensive coordinator at the club's training facility Monday.
Fangio, 64, has been an NFL coach for 35 years, including a three-year head coaching tenure with the Broncos, going 19-30. He was fired after the 2021 season.
MLS: Midfielder Tyler Boyd signed a one-year contract with the LA Galaxy on Monday.
This will be Boyd's first appearance in Major League Soccer after playing in New Zealand, Portugal and Turkey. He also has made 10 appearances and six starts for the U.S. Men's National Team, where he scored two goals and had one assist.
WNBA: Three weeks after signing with the Los Angeles Sparks, forward Stephanie Talbot will miss the upcoming WNBA season after getting hurt in her native Australia.
Horse racing: Steve Asmussen became the first trainer with 10,000 victories in North America on Monday, when Bet He's Ready won the fifth race at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.
Tennis: Dominic Thiem lost in the first round of the Rio Open on , falling to Thiago Monteiro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (2).
The former world No. 3 and 2020 U.S. Open champion, fell to 1-2 on the year.