Houston Cougars basketball stays atop the AP, USA Today coaches polls

The Houston Cougars basketball team stood pat as the No. 1 team in both The Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls on Monday.

Houston (17-1, 5-0 American Athletic) has won eight straight games, including its only outing last week against South Florida. The Cougars picked up a couple of more points in the AP Poll from a week ago, totaling 1,460. UH got 34 first-place votes in the Jan. 16 AP Poll.

The Cougars finished ahead of No. 2 Kansas, who tallied 23 first-place votes and 1,446 total points, and third-ranked Purdue, who received three first-place votes. Alabama is fourth, and UCLA moved up to become the fifth-ranked team in the AP Poll.

Other teams within the state ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll are seventh-ranked Texas, 14th-ranked Texas Christian, and 21st Baylor.

Houston is also No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Cougars picked up 17 first-place votes in Monday’s poll, three more than a week ago. UH had 777 total points. The rest of the top five mirrors the AP Poll, with Kansas at No. 2 with 768 points, Purdue at third, Alabama at fourth, and UCLA at fifth.

Seventh-ranked Texas, 13th-ranked TCU and 22nd-ranked Baylor are the other teams besides Houston within the state ranked in the top 25 of the coaches poll.

In the NCAA Evaluation Tool, or NET, rankings, Houston is also No. 1. The NET rankings are updated daily and take into account the level of opponent a team has faced, factors in where the game was played, and other indicators to rank teams.

As of Jan. 15, Houston is 3-1 in Quad One games, which are games against the highest-ranked opponents in the NET rankings. UH is 4-0 in Quad Two games.

Houston takes the court again on Tuesday evening in New Orleans against Tulane.