Houston remained atop the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll for the third straight week Monday, while a pair of the game's traditional blue bloods made big leaps as they peaked just in time for the postseason.
The Cougars received 52 of 62 first-place votes from a national media panel after a week in which they beat UCF and upset then-No. 14 Kansas to clinch the Big 12 regular-season title in their first year in the league. The three consecutive weeks Houston has spent in No. 1 games, the school's longest streak since the 1967-68 season.
“It's gratifying,” said Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson, whose team will be the top seed in the Big 12 tournament and open play Thursday. “I'm happy for everyone. There are so many people who have an inferiority complex about 'We're the University of Houston.' “This is a very good school. “We live in a very good city and we have a very good basketball program.”
Defending national champion UConn, the top seed in the Big East tournament, was second in the poll after earning six first-place votes, and Purdue, the top seed in the Big Ten tournament, remained at No. 3 after earning four. first place votes.
The big move came in the rest of the top 10, where North Carolina jumped three spots to No. 4 after beating then-No. 9 Duke and Kentucky jumped six spots to No. 9 after its win over then-No. 9. 4Tennessee.
The Tar Heels revamped their roster after last season's failure from a preseason No. 1 seed to missing the NCAA tournament, and the changes were evident against the Blue Devils. Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram dominated the teams' first meeting and Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan scored 31 points in the Tar Heels' 84-79 win on Saturday.
The victory secured UNC's first outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title since 2017.
“All year long, you look at certain games where different guys step up in different situations,” North Carolina big man Armando Bacot said. “We have so many good guys it's a luxury.”
The Wildcats, the second seed behind the Vols in the Southeastern Conference tournament, showed their depth in a pair of wins last week. Reed Sheppard came off the bench to hit seven 3-pointers and score 27 points in an 85-81 win at Tennessee.
“I've said it before, they're the most explosive offensive team in the country,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.
Arizona, the top seed in the Pac-12 tournament, dropped one spot to sixth this week and was followed by Iowa State and Creighton, which moved up two spots. Marquette dropped two spots to round out the top 10.
Duke fell to No. 11 and was followed by Auburn, Illinois, Baylor and South Carolina. Kansas continued its late-season slide, falling two spots after a week in which it beat Kansas State but lost by 30 on the road to Houston.
The Jayhawks also lost big man Hunter Dickinson to a shoulder dislocation and All-America candidate Kevin McCullar Jr. to more knee problems. It's unclear if either player will be available when Kansas, which fell to the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 tournament, plays its second-round game on Wednesday.
Gonzaga continued its late-season rise to No. 17 in the poll and was followed by Utah State, Alabama and BYU. The bottom five were Saint Mary's, Washington State, Nevada, Dayton and Texas Tech.
Kentucky made the biggest move, moving up six spots, while Utah State moved up four spots after wins over San Jose State and New Mexico. Washington State suffered the biggest drop, dropping four spots after its loss to Washington.
Nevada is ranked for the first time since the final poll of the 2018-19 season, ranking 23rd after wins over Boise State and UNLV, while Texas Tech returned to the poll after wins over Oklahoma State and then-No. 11Baylor. Nevada and Texas Tech entered the Top 25 at the expense of San Diego State and South Florida.
The Big 12 leads the way with six teams in the Top 25, and the SEC is close behind with five. The Big East has three in the poll and all of them (UConn, Creighton and Marquette) are in the top 10. The Big Ten, ACC, Pac-12, West Coast and Mountain West conferences each have two ranked teams.
