Houston Cougars basketball stays at No. 1 in national polls heading toward conference tournament

The Houston Cougars basketball team is sitting at No. 1 in both The Associated Press poll and USA Today coaches poll on Monday.

Houston (29-2, 17-1 American Athletic) finished its regular season with fireworks courtesy of junior point guard Jamal Shead, who lifted the team past Memphis with a buzzer-beating jumper.

UH ended the regular season undefeated on the road, going 11-0 in hostile environments. It is the only team to accomplish the feat this season.

The Cougars garnered 1,522 total points, including 58 of 61 first-place votes, in the latest AP Poll. UCLA jumped up a couple of spots to No. 2. The Bruins got the remaining three first-place votes. Despite losing by 16 to Texas on Saturday, Kansas stayed at No. 3, while Alabama fell to No. 4 following a 67-61 loss to Texas A&M. Purdue remained at No. 5 to round out the top five.

Texas climbed to No. 7. Baylor fell to No. 10 following a loss to Iowa State on Saturday. Texas A&M continued its hot streak heading into the SEC Tournament. The Aggies went up to No. 18. Texas Christian stayed at No. 22 despite losing to Oklahoma to round out the top 25 teams in the state.

In the USA Today coaches poll, Houston picked up 771 total points and 29 of the 31 first-place votes. UCLA also moved up to No. 2 but did not receive a single first-place vote. Purdue jumped both Alabama and Kansas in the coaches’ poll but did not get any first-place votes either. Kansas fell to No. 4 despite receiving the other two first-place votes. Alabama fell to No. 5.

When it comes to the other teams within the state, Texas stayed at No. 7. Baylor fell to No. 10. Texas A&M moved up to No. 18. TCU fell to No. 23.

In the NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings, Houston remained at No. 1 through Sunday’s slate of games. The Cougars’ victory over the Tigers on Sunday was another Quad One win for UH. Houston is 5-1 in Quad One games as of Monday morning. The NET rankings update daily.

Alabama is No. 2 in the NET rankings, while Tennessee is third and UCLA is fourth. Purdue sits fifth. Texas is 10th in the NET, Baylor is 12th, and Texas A&M is 23rd.

For Houston, all attention now turns to the AAC postseason tournament. UH will play the winner of South Florida and East Carolina on Friday at noon at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

Because all games will be on a neutral site, Houston’s chance at playing another Quad One game will come only if it plays Memphis again. The two teams can meet only in the championship game of the tournament. Games against UCF, Cincinnati, or Tulane would be considered Quad Two.

Houston’s chance at becoming the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament opened up a bit more with the losses by Alabama and Kansas over the weekend. The Cougars were the No. 2 seed overall in the NCAA Tournament when the committee gave its preview bracket on Feb. 18.