KELVIN SAMPSON

Jarace Walker had a career-high 25 points and seven rebounds and No. 3 Houston rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Cincinnati 75-69.

While the college basketball season has been marked by chaos, the Tide and Boilermakers just keep on winning.

Houston and Kansas remain firmly atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll after a record weekend of Top 25 losses.

1 in The Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll for the second time this season, while Kansas State continued its unexpectedly strong start by leaping from unranked to the verge of the top 10. Kansas State jumped to No. That helped Kansas State (14-1) match its best start since the 1958-59 season, while bringing the Wildcats back into the AP Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2018-19 season. In all, 10 teams climbed from last week's poll. WELCOMEWhile Kansas State grabbed the spotlight for the week’s new additions, the Big East added two teams with No.

Houston is back at No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the second time this season, while Kansas State continued its unexpectedly strong start by leaping from unranked to the verge of the top 10. The Cougars received 34 of 60 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to return to the top after a two-week stay there earlier this season. Kansas was second and had 22 first-place votes, while Purdue fell from No. 1 to No. 3 and got the other four first-place votes after suffering its first loss at Rutgers last week.

Purdue's reign atop the college basketball world continues, but there was plenty of movement just below the Boilermakers this past week. Here’s everything you missed in Week 6 of the season, and the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll. Houston recovers after Alabama loss, knocks off VirginiaHouston is back on track. Arizona notches another huge win before Pac-12 playThe Pac-12 may have to run through Tucson after all. Arizona fended off a tough Tennessee team at the McKale Center to pull off a 75-70 win and improve to 10-1 on the season.

Jarace Walker scored 17 points and Houston used runs in each half and the nation's best scoring defense to beat the Cavaliers 69-61. The Cougars scored on three straight possessions after a steal and layup by Kihei Clark brought a sellout crowd clad in orange to its feet, exhorting Virginia to rely on its own defense to finish the comeback. Houston became the highest-ranked nonconference opponent ever to play Virginia in Charlottesville. Virginia scored the first nine points and led 15-7 before going cold. Virginia: The Cavaliers got guard Reece Beekman back after he suffered a hamstring injury in their previous game.

Jarace Walker scored 17 points and No. 5 Houston used runs in each half and the nation’s best scoring defense to beat No. 2 Virginia 69-61.

Houston and Texas remain firmly entrenched atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while preseason No. 1 North Carolina has dropped out entirely after a fourth straight loss.

Houston and Texas remain firmly entrenched atop The Associated Press men's college basketball poll, while preseason No. Other than the top five, there are three other teams in the AP Top 25 that entered Monday undefeated (No. SWIFT FALLNorth Carolina is only the sixth team to go from preseason No. 1 to unranked since at least the 1961-62 season, most recently with Michigan State during the 2019-20 season. They appeared on a single ballot this week from the 62-member panel that votes on the AP Top 25.

Houston and Texas remain firmly entrenched atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.

Marcus Sasser scored 25 points, Tramon Mark added 16 points and No. 1 Houston routed Norfolk State 100-52 in the Cougars’ first game as the top-ranked team in nearly 40 years Tuesday night.

For the first time since Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler roamed the hardwood for Phi Slama Jama, Houston is ranked No. 1.

We’ve been working for this,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, whose team is coming off a Final Four and Elite Eight trip the past two seasons. They rolled through the NCAA Tournament before falling to Jim Valvano and North Carolina State in an iconic championship game in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Kentucky and Michigan State joined UCLA, Maryland, Iowa State, San Diego State and Ohio State in rounding out the poll. On the flip side, the Tar Heels tumbled 17 spots, Duke dropped nine, Gonzaga fell eight and San Diego State fell seven. IN AND OUTDespite all the movement, Iowa State was the only newcomer this week, checking in at No.

Houston is the No. 1 team in the AP men's college basketball poll.

Michigan State was underrated, Houston is stacked and Texas is a contender. All this and more in Andy Katz's weekly college hoops notebook.

Check out our conference previews on the Big 12, ACC, Big Ten, Big East and SEC. Kelvin Sampson has a healthy squad back in Houston, too, which has them right behind the Bulldogs in the top-5. San Diego State could easily make a deep run come March, too. Gonzaga +900Houston +1000San Diego State +6600Dayton +8000Drew Timme, Gonzaga open as preseason favoritesDrew Timme is back, and he’s ready to win national player of the year. Don’t count out San Diego State, DaytonSan Diego State is generally in contention come the end of the season, and this year should be no different.

The Houston Cougars are talented, tough and steeped in Kelvin Sampson's culture. They're also No. 3 in our preseason countdown.

Jamal Shead scored a career-high 21 points and Houston led throughout in a 72-60 victory over top-seeded Arizona.

Taze Moore scored 21 points, Jamal Shead added 18 and Houston, a Final Four team last season, advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a 68-53 win over Illinois.

Jared Butler scored 17 points to lead five Baylor players in double figures, and the Bears roared to a 78-59 victory over Houston in the Final Four.

Gonzaga has given fans the NCAA championship game they wanted with a shot for the ages.

Gonzaga (30-0) has been an offensive juggernaut rarely seen in college basketball. Ad“Everyone wants us to keep moving forward, but that’s not how we roll,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. That doesn’t lessen our desire to win this game, the next game or win two more games.”The next one won't be easy. The Bears were embroiled in one of the darkest scandals in college basketball history, when Patrick Dennehy was murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson in 2003. They played in the Final Four.”___More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25

Yes, Houston is going back to the Final Four for the first time since the famed “Phi Slama Jama” era after Monday night's 67-61 win against Oregon State. And Houston knocked down enough free throws late while holding Oregon State without a basket during a critical 3 1/2 minutes. Fittingly, it was DeJon Jarreau — the American Athletic Conference's defensive player of the year who led the effort that stymied Oregon State star Ethan Thompson — who was named the most outstanding player of the Midwest Region. “It was right there within our grasp with the effort we showed in the second half,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. They held the Beavers to 35% shooting in the first half before Oregon State found some openings.

... Oregon State opponents are shooting just 31.3% overall and 23.1% from 3-point range in the NCAA Tournament. That Missouri squad lost a regional final to an Oklahoma team coached by Kelvin Sampson, who’s now at Houston. … Arkansas is in a regional final for the first time since 1995, when it lost to UCLA in the championship game. … Arkansas’ Justin Smith is averaging 20.3 points and 11 rebounds in three NCAA Tournament games. Arizona and Indiana are both in an NCAA regional final for the first time.

Now it's taken coach Kelvin Sampson's team somewhere new: the program's deepest NCAA Tournament run since the days of Olajuwon, Drexler and the famed “Phi Slama Jama." That sent the second-seeded Cougars through to their first regional final in 37 years, earning a matchup with No. Houston (27-3) came in holding opponents to a national-low 37.3% shooting, and then harassed Syracuse (18-10) into just 28% (14 for 50). “It’s the best defense that that we’ve seen this year and they deserved to win,” coach Jim Boeheim said. Syracuse had shot at least 52% each time while making 29 3-pointers — but there would be no repeat of that unexpected 2016 Final Four run thanks to Houston's defense.

The Cougars play No. By the time the first half ended, and the Scarlet Knights had forged a 30-27 lead, Rutgers and Houston each had two regulars mired in foul trouble. AdChaney took a seat with his fourth with 15:45 left and the Scarlet Knights went on the attack. And by the time there was 10 minutes to go, the Scarlet Knights had meticulously built a 50-40 lead. UP NEXTThe Cougars play the Orange next weekend for a spot in the Elite Eight.

We wanted to be the American Conference champions.”Just more than an hour after the AAC title game ended, the Cougars (24-3) were named the No. The Bearcats won the previous two AAC title game matchups before last year’s tournaments were canceled because of COVID-19 after Houston had won its second consecutive AAC regular-season title. This title game got lopsided, like their only regular-season matchup three weeks earlier, when Houston won 90-52 at home. SMU's 15-point win over Cincinnati in 2017 had been the largest margin in an AAC tournament final. The Bearcats got to their fourth consecutive AAC tournament title game with a 60-59 win over the top-seeded Shockers in their semifinal game Saturday.

East Carolina's Jayden Gardner (1) starts to celebrate during the closing minutes of the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Houston in Greenville, N.C., Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)GREENVILLE, N.C. – Jayden Gardner and East Carolina didn't get to savor a sea of court-storming home fans after claiming a huge upset. Gardner had 21 points and 15 rebounds to help ECU stun fifth-ranked Houston 82-73 on Wednesday night, securing the Pirates' first win against a ranked opponent in nearly two decades. East Carolina shot 47% and made 11 of 24 3-pointers — and more impressively, the Pirates led for the last 12-plus minutes against a Houston team that struggled to make much of anything after halftime. but we weren't any of those things tonight.”AdECU: East Carolina hadn't won since beating Tulane at home on Dec. 22.

11 Houston used a dominant first half to cruise to a 75-58 win over UCF on Sunday. Houston (11-1, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) won its fourth straight game since its loss to Tulsa. “It was a great game for us,” Houston guard DeJon Jarreau said. “They made a lot of shots to start the first half off and kind of knocked us back,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. Sampson passed former Houston coach Tom Penders.