Houston back at No. 1, Kansas State jumps to 11th in AP poll

Houston is back at No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 men’scollege basketball poll for the second time this season, whileKansas State continued its unexpectedly strong start by leapingfrom unranked to the verge of the top 10.

The Cougars received 34 of 60 first-place votes in Monday’s pollto return to the top after a two-week stay there earlier thisseason. Kansas was second and had 22 first-place votes, whilePurdue fell from No. 1 to No. 3 and got the other four first-placevotes after suffering its first loss at Rutgers last week.

Before this season, the Cougars (16-1) hadn’t been No. 1 sincethe high-flying “Phi Slama Jama” days of the 1980s.

“Every team, you just have to bring them along because they’reall different,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said after Sunday’swin at Cincinnati. “Our DNA remains the same, but the faces change.… As the season goes on, guys get better and better.”

Kansas State jumped to No. 11 after an impressive week with tworoad wins against ranked opponents under first-year coach JeromeTang. Picked to finish last in the 10-team Big 12, the Wildcatsscored 116 points at Texas then edged Baylor 97-95 in overtime.

That helped Kansas State (14-1) match its best start since the1958-59 season, while bringing the Wildcats back into the AP Top 25for the first time since the end of the 2018-19 season.

“We’re not trying to prove doubters (wrong),” Tang said afterthe Baylor win. “We’re trying to just continue to believe inourselves ... That’s a great accomplishment for these young men.But none of that matters if we lay an egg the next game,right?”

THE TOP TIER

Alabama and Tennessee gave the Southeastern Conference a pair oftop-five teams, with the Crimson Tide returning to No. 4 for thefirst time since spending a week there in December and theVolunteers hitting their season high at fifth.

Connecticut, UCLA, Gonzaga, Arizona and Texas rounded out thetop 10, with the Longhorns falling four spots after a tumultuousweek that included the firing of coach Chris Beard as he faces afelony domestic family violence charge.

RISING

No. 14 Iowa State climbed nine spots after road wins againstOklahoma and No. 17 TCU. No. 12 Xavier rose six spots after pushingits winning streak to nine games. In all, 10 teams climbed fromlast week’s poll.

SLIDING

No. 24 Duke took the week’s biggest tumble, falling eight spotsafter a blowout loss at North Carolina State followed by a narrowwin at Boston College. No. 16 Miami and No. 18 Wisconsin joinedArizona and Texas in falling four spots. In all, nine teams fellfrom last week’s rankings.

STATUS QUO

TCU and No. 20 Missouri were the only teams to hold theirposition from last week.

WELCOME

While Kansas State grabbed the spotlight for the week’s newadditions, the Big East added two teams with No. 19 Providence andNo. 25 Marquette joining the poll. It marked the first appearancethis year for the Friars and second for the Golden Eagles.

No. 23 San Diego State also returned for a second stint in thepoll this year.

FAREWELL (FOR NOW)

Indiana (No. 15), Baylor (No. 19), New Mexico (No. 21) and OhioState (No. 24) fell out of the poll, with Scott Drew’s Bears nowunranked for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

CONFERENCE WATCH

The Big 12 and SEC each had five ranked teams to lead thecountry, followed by the Big East with four teams. The AtlanticCoast Conference had three, while the Big Ten and Pac-12 each hadtwo.

The American Athletic, West Coast and Mountain West conferencesalong with the Colonial Athletic Association each had one rankedteam.