Houston Takes Over No. 1 in Men’s AP Poll After UNC’s Losses

The Cougars top the rankings for the first time since 1983.

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

Nearly four decades after Clyde Drexler and Akeem Olajuwon took the Cougars to No. 1, the latest bunch led by Marcus Sasser and star freshman Jarace Walker took over the top spot in the AP top 25 on Monday. They received 45 of 63 first-place votes from the national media panel, easily outdistancing second-place Texas and third-place Virginia.

“It’s not like we went online and applied for it and waited for a response back. We’ve been working for this,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, whose team is coming off a Final Four and Elite Eight trip the past two seasons. “But remember, it’s a rental. You don’t own it. You’re just renting it because someday somebody else is going to be No. 1.”

North Carolina had been No. 1 all season, but the Tar Heels lost to Iowa State and in a four-overtime thriller to Alabama at the Phil Knight Invitational to cede the top spot to Houston, which beat Kent State in its only game last week.

Texas received eight first-place votes and Virginia received two. Arizona climbed from 14th to fourth after emerging from a stacked field to win the Maui Invitational. Purdue jumped from 24th all the way to fifth and scooped up eight first-place votes after beating West Virginia, Gonzaga and Duke at the Phil Knight Legacy tourney.

Baylor was sixth, Creighton seventh and UConn climbed from 20th to eighth 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 championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis, while Indiana rounded out the top 10.

Full men’s top 25 (as of Nov. 28):

1. Houston
2. Texas
3. Virginia
4. Arizona
5. Purdue
6. Baylor
7. Creighton
8. UConn
9. Kansas
10. Indiana
T-11. Alabama
T-11. Arkansas
13. Tennessee
14. Gonzaga
15. Auburn
16. Illinois
17. Duke
18. North Carolina
19. Kentucky
20. Michigan State
21. UCLA
22. Maryland
23. Iowa State
24. San Diego State
25. Ohio State

Others receiving votes: TCU 45, Iowa 31, Charleston 20, West Virginia 14, Mississippi State 12, Texas Tech 11, Michigan 8, Wisconsin 6, Arizona State 6, UNLV 6, Miami (FL) 5, Missouri 2, Oklahoma 2, St. John’s 1, Virginia Tech 1, New Mexico 1, Kansas State 1