Feb 26, 2024, 01:24 PM ET
Now it is Houston’s turn at the top of The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll.The Cougars transferred to No. 1 for the very first time this season in Monday’s newest survey, climbing one spot to end the six-week stay of ruling national champion UConn.Houston(24-3)became the 5th group to hold the top area this
season.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Purdue rose one area to No. 2, while the Huskies’ loss to Creighton
dropped them to
3rd in a survey that included South Florida splitting the rankings for the very first time in program history.Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars invested 7 weeks at No. 1 last year, their first stint at the top considering that the “Phi Slama Jama”days throughout the 1982-83 season with a group including future NBA greats such as Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Now they’re back, playing in a new conference home( the Big 12 )with the same defense-first formula that has Houston leading the country in KenPom’s adjusted defensive performance(87.1 points permitted per 100 belongings).”Our guys are difficult,”Sampson stated after an overtime win at Baylor.”We’re not always quite. However last time I inspected, this is not a charm contest.
“Team Tape 1. Houston (53)24-3 2. Purdue(4 )25-3 3. UConn (5) 25-3 4. Tennessee 21-6 5. Marquette 21-6 6. Arizona 21-6 7. Kansas 21-6 8. Iowa State 21-6 9. North Carolina 21-6 10. Duke 21-6 11.
| Auburn 21-6 12. Creighton 20-8 13. |
| Illinois 20-7 14. |
Alabama 19-8 15. Baylor 19-8 16. Kentucky 19-8 17. Saint Mary’s 23-6 18. South Carolina |
22-5 |
| 19. Washington State 21-7 20 |
| . San Diego State 21-7 21. |
| Dayton 21-5 22. Utah State |
| 22-5 23. Gonzaga 22-6 24. Florida 19-8 25. South Florida 21-5 THE TOP TIER |
| The top 10 featured the very same universe of teams, though in reshuffled order.Tennessee went up a spot to
|
| No. 4 for its greatest |
ranking of |
| the season, followed by Marquette |
| . Arizona |
, Kansas, Iowa State, |
and North Carolina. Duke rounded out the top 10. FLUCTUATING While |
| there was a lot of |
motion, |
| there were no major leaps among the week’s |
| 12 rising groups. No. 11 |
Auburn and |
| No. 12 Creighton had the biggest dives of a modest
|
| three areas |
, while four others groups rose two positions.No. 21 Dayton took the greatest tumble
|
| of the 9 groups that dropped, falling 5 spots after a |
loss |
| at George Mason. No. |
15 Baylor fell 4 areas after losing at BYU before falling to Houston.No. 24 Florida was the only group to hold its position from last week.WELCOME ABOARD South Florida has been a surprise in its very first season under Amir Abdur-Rahim, who led an exceptional turn-around at Kennesaw State from a one-win season to an NCAA tournament quote last year. Now he has actually helped the Bulls (21-5)go from being selected ninth in the American Athletic Conference to their first-ever ranking at No. 25. The other two additions recognize: No. 22 Utah State invested five straight weeks in the survey earlier this season, while No. 23 Gonzaga is back in after falling out for 6 straight weeks to end that program’s very first stretch amongst the unranked since the 2015-16 season.FAREWELL(IN THE MEANTIME) Colorado State (No. 22 ), Texas Tech(No. 23 )and BYU (No. 25) fell out from last week.CONFERENCE see The Southeastern Conference blazed a trail with 6 ranked teams, including No. 14 Alabama, No. 16 Kentucky and No. 18 South Carolina. The Big 12 was next with 4 groups, all in the top 15. The Big East had actually three, followed by the Big 10, Atlantic Coast, Pac-12, Mountain West and West Coast conferences with two. The Atlantic 10 signed up with the AAC with one. |
