Houston climbed back to the summit of the rankings in the Coaches Poll once again on Monday for the first time since Dec. 5 after the Cougars rocked SMU and Cincinnati this week in AAC play to improve to 16-1 on the season and a perfect 4-0 in conference play. Houston was lurking in the No. 2 spot behind Purdue in last week's poll but successfully displaced the Boilermakers after they took their first loss of the season this past week.
Houston began the season at No. 3 in the Coaches Poll and has not dropped lower than No. 4 on the season as one of the most consistently dominant teams in the sport. It leads all college basketball teams in scoring margin and is one of only two teams thus far this season to own both a top-10 offense and defense in KenPom.com's adjusted efficiency rankings.
The only other team to have both a top-10 offense and defense in adjusted efficiency margins at KenPom, UConn, is another team that's consistently ranked as a top-10 team in the Coaches Poll the last few months despite opening the year unranked. The Huskies stumbled in the latest poll after falling to Providence last week but came in at No. 7 in Monday's update, powered in part by a huge conference win over fellow Big East contender Creighton.
Behind Houston in the Coaches Poll this week is No. 2 Kansas, No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Tennessee. Rounding out the top 10 are UCLA, UConn, Gonzaga, Arizona and Texas.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston (14) | 16-1 | 774 | 2 |
| 2 | Kansas (12) | 14-1 | 767 | 3 |
| 3 | Purdue (6) | 15-1 | 734 | 1 |
| 4 | Alabama | 13-2 | 676 | 7 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 13-2 | 655 | 9 |
| 6 | UCLA | 14-2 | 603 | 8 |
| 7 | UConn | 15-2 | 601 | 5 |
| 8 | Gonzaga | 14-3 | 569 | 10 |
| 9 | Arizona | 14-2 | 535 | 4 |
| 10 | Texas | 13-2 | 462 | 6 |
| 11 | Xavier | 13-3 | 428 | 18 |
| 12 | Virginia | 11-3 | 395 | 11 |
| 13 | Kansas State | 14-1 | 370 | NR |
| 14 | Iowa State | 12-2 | 332 | 25 |
| 15 | Miami | 13-2 | 329 | 12 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 12-3 | 290 | 13 |
| 17 | TCU | 13-2 | 269 | 17 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 11-3 | 240 | 15 |
| 19 | Providence | 14-3 | 206 | NR |
| 20 | Missouri | 13-2 | 193 | 21 |
| 21 | Duke | 12-4 | 165 | 14 |
| 22 | Auburn | 12-3 | 159 | 20 |
| 23 | Marquette | 13-4 | 123 | NR |
| 24 | Charleston | 16-1 | 77 | NR |
| 25 | San Diego State | 12-3 | 72 | NR |
| 25 | Iowa State | 10-2 | 62 | NR |
Also receiving votes: Illinois 50; Baylor 48; Clemson 45; Michigan State. 38; Ohio State. 32; Saint Mary's 30; Indiana 29; Northwestern 15; Maryland 13; Florida Atlantic 13; Kentucky 11; North Carolina 10; Rutgers 8; New Mexico 7; Louisiana State 6; Pittsburgh 5; Iowa 5; Mississippi State 4; Texas Tech 3; Nevada 2; Texas A&M 1; Boise State. 1.
Dropped out: No. 16 Baylor; No. 19 Indiana; No. 22 New Mexico; No. 23 Ohio St.; No. 24 Illinois; No. 25 Kentucky.
