Mandatory Credit: Photo by Chris Szagola/AP/Shutterstock (13755619n) Houston’s Ryan Elvin, center right, celebrates the win with Marcus Sasser, left, and Jamal Shead, center left, following the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, in Philadelphia. Houston won 81-65 Houston Temple Basketball, Philadelphia, United States – 05 Feb 2023

Houston Cougars basketball once again rises up to No. 2 in both national polls

Clovis Shropshire
February 6, 2023
0
3 minutes read

The Houston Cougars basketball team once again moved up the national polls following two road wins this past week.

Houston moved up to No. 2 in Monday’s Associated Press poll. The Cougars (22-2, 10-1 American Athletic) garnered 22 first-place votes. Despite losing on Saturday to then-No. 21 Indiana, Purdue remained at No. 1 in the AP Poll. The Boilermakers got 38 first-place votes. Indiana moved up to 18th.

Alabama at third, Arizona at fourth, and Texas at fifth rounded out the top 5 in the most recent AP Poll. Baylor at 14th and Texas Christian at 17th were the only other schools within the state to be ranked in the top 25.

In the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Cougars also came in at No. 2 behind Purdue. In the coaches poll, Purdue received 15 first-place votes. Houston got 13 first-place votes. Behind UH was Alabama at No. 3, Arizona at No. 4, and Tennessee at No. 5.

Texas was ranked sixth, Baylor was 12th, and TCU was 19th to round out the teams in the state in the top 25 of the coaches poll.

In the NCAA Evaluation Tool, or NET, rankings, the Cougars still find themselves as the No. 1 team in the country through games played on Feb. 5. The NET rankings factor in various indicators, including a team’s winning percentage and a team’s opponent’s winning percentage.

Houston will only play one game until next Monday when the next polls are released. The Cougars host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.