There’s a new No. 1 at the top of the Associated Press Top 25 college basketball rankings as Houston took over the top spot from North Carolina after a major shakeup in Monday’s poll, marking the first time in 39 years the Cougars are at the top of the AP rankings.
Houston improved to 6-0 after a 49-44 win over Kent State while last week’s No. 1, No. 3, No. 6 and No. 8-ranked teams all took at least one loss. It earned 45 first-place votes. The last time the Cougars were No. 1 was the final poll of the 1982-83 season before the Cougars lost to NC State in the NCAA Tournament final.
The Tar Heels, who lost to Iowa State and Alabama, fell to No. 18 in this week’s poll.
Chaos in college hoops benefited another team in the great state of Texas beyond Houston as Texas also got a boost in the rankings, moving from No. 4 to No. 2 after a week in which it handled business to improve to 5-0. Its No. 2 ranking is the highest for the program since the 2009 season.
Elsewhere in the poll, Virginia scooted up two spots to No. 3 while both Arizona and Purdue made huge jumps from outside the top 10 to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 is Baylor, Creighton, UConn, Kansas and Indian
AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston (45) | 6-0 | 1,534 | 2 |
| 2 | Texas (8) | 5-0 | 1,467 | 4 |
| 3 | Virginia (2) | 5-0 | 1,408 | 5 |
| 4 | Arizona | 6-0 | 1,341 | 14 |
| 5 | Purdue (8) | 6-0 | 1,307 | 24 |
| 6 | Baylor | 5-1 | 1,111 | 7 |
| 7 | Creighton | 6-1 | 1,100 | 10 |
| 8 | UConn | 8-0 | 1,099 | 20 |
| 9 | Kansas | 6-1 | 990 | 3 |
| 10 | Indiana | 6-0 | 938 | 11 |
| T-11 | Arkansas | 5-1 | 860 | 9 |
| T-11 | Alabama | 6-1 | 860 | 18 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 5-1 | 848 | 22 |
| 14 | Gonzaga | 5-2 | 845 | 6 |
| 15 | Auburn | 7-0 | 733 | 13 |
| 16 | Illinois | 5-1 | 643 | 16 |
| 17 | Duke | 6-2 | 614 | 8 |
| 18 | North Carolina | 5-2 | 541 | 1 |
| 19 | Kentucky | 4-2 | 472 | 15 |
| 20 | Michigan State | 5-2 | 469 | 12 |
| 21 | UCLA | 5-2 | 346 | 19 |
| 22 | Maryland | 6-0 | 282 | 23 |
| 23 | Iowa State | 5-1 | 198 | NR |
| 24 | San Diego State | 4-2 | 189 | 17 |
| 25 | Ohio State | 5-1 | 108 | NR |
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
