Houston No. 1 in AP poll for first time because

Make some room, Phi Slama Jama. Another Houston group has reached the top of men’s college basketball.Nearly 4 years

after Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon took the Cougars to No. 1, the latest group, led by Marcus Sasser and star freshman Jarace Walker, took over the top spot in the AP Top 25 on Monday. They got 45 of 63 first-place votes from the nationwide media panel, quickly outdistancing second-place Texas and third-place Virginia.”It’s not like we browsed the web and made an application for

it and waited for a reaction back. We have actually been working for this,”stated Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, whose group is coming off a Last 4 and Elite Eight journey the previous 2 seasons. “However remember, it’s a leasing. You don’t own it. You’re simply leasing it because sooner or later someone else is going to be No. 1.” 1. Houston(45) 2. Texas(8

spot to Houston, which beat Kent State in its only game last week.The last time the Cougars ascended to No. 1 was the last poll of the 1982-83 season, when”The Glide”and” The Dream”along with coach Person Lewis were the favorites to win everything. They rolled through the NCAA tournament before falling to Jim Valvano and North Carolina State in a renowned national championship in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I have actually never ever been ranked No. 1,”said Sampson, now in his 34th season as a college basketball coach. “We were ranked all 12 years at Oklahoma. I’m sure we were ranked at Indiana. Then we’ve been ranked five or 6 straight years.

We’re utilized to having a high level of success.”Texas received 8 first-place votes and Virginia got two. Arizona climbed from 14th to 4th after emerging from a stacked field to win the Maui Invitational. Purdue jumped from 24th all the method to 5th and scooped up 8 first-place votes after beating West Virginia, Gonzaga and Duke at the Phil Knight Legacy tourney.”Our men are competitive. They’re enjoyable to coach. They get along. They’re out there playing with function and that’s what you have to have,” stated Boilermakers coach Matt Painter, whose group was quickly No. 1 about this time last season.”Early in the season, really couple of teams play with the

function collectively,”he said. “I thought our people had fun with a purpose.”Baylor was 6th, Creighton seventh and UConn climbed from 20th to 8th after beating Oregon, Alabama and Iowa State to win the Phil Knight Invitational. Kansas fell from third to ninth after losing to Tennessee in the national championship of the Battle 4 Atlantis, while Indiana rounded out the leading 10. There

was a tie for 11th in between SEC rivals Alabama and Arkansas with the Volunteers, another conference opponent, right behind them. Gonzaga dropped from sixth to 14th, its very first time outside the top 10 because Feb. 5, 2018, and Auburn was 15th. Illinois was next followed by Duke and North Carolina in a difficult week for Tobacco Road.

The Blue Devils fell from eighth after their 75-56 loss to the Boilermakers.Kentucky and Michigan State signed up with UCLA, Maryland, Iowa State, San Diego State and Ohio State in rounding out the poll.Get exclusive access to more than 3,000 premium posts a year from leading

writers. – Wyshynski: Evaluating NHL overreactions”- Pelton: Are the Kings for real?”- Rittenberg: Grading CFB coach works with “- Miller/Reid: Mini 2023 NFL mock draft”More ESPN+content”RISING AND FALLING Purdue made an unusual 19-spot dive as the poll went through a huge shake-up. UConn climbed 12 areas, Arizona moved up 10

, Tennessee climbed up nine and Alabama seven. On the other side, the Tar Heels toppled 17 spots,
Duke dropped 9, Gonzaga fell 8 and San Diego State fell seven.IN AND OUT Despite all the movement, Iowa State was the only newbie this week, checking in at No.
23 after beating Villanova and North Carolina prior to being up to UConn. The Cyclones

changed Iowa, which

dropped out after a one-week stay following its loss to TCU in the title game of the Emerald Coast Classic.CONFERENCE ENJOY There are six distinction conferences represented in the first seven teams in the survey. The Big Ten blazes a trail with 6 in the Top 25 while the SEC has five and the Big 12 has four, though 3 of them are in

the leading 10.