Houston No. 1 In Latest Men’s AP Top 25 Poll
Four Big 12 teams, led by No. 1 Houston, were among the nation’s best as the Associated Press Men’s Basketball Top 25 was released after the season’s 16th week of games.
The Big 12 ranked teams included:
Houston at No. 1 (No. 2 last week);
Kansas at No. 7 (No. 9 last week);
Iowa State at No. 8 (No. 6 last week)
Baylor at No. 15 (No. 11 last week);
Texas Tech dropped out of Top 25 (No. 23 last week);
BYU dropped out of top 25 (No. 25 last week);
Houston (24-3, 11-3) took the lead in the Big 12 with a 73-65 win over Iowa State on Big Monday last week. The Cougars followed that by escaping Waco with an 82-76 win over Baylor in overtime. The Cougars will host Cincinnati on Tuesday and travel to Oklahoma on Saturday.
The Cougars are No. 1 in the country for the first time as members of the Big 12.
Kansas (21-6, 9-5) had a mid-week bye and returned on Saturday to blow out Texas, 86-67. Kansas will host BYU on Tuesday and then travel to Baylor on Saturday. The Jayhawks are not sure when Kevin McCullar Jr. will rejoin the team due to an injury.
Iowa State (21-6, 10-4) fell to Houston, 73-65, but bounced back to beat West Virginia, 71-64. This week starts at Hilton Coliseum as the Cyclones host Oklahoma on Wednesday. Then on Saturday Iowa State is at UCF.
Baylor (19-8, 8-6) lost both of its games last week, both to ranked teams. The Bears fell to BYU in Provo, 78-71, followed by the overtime loss to Houston at home. Baylor is on the road on Monday to face TCU and then hosts Kansas on Saturday.
Texas Tech (19-8, 8-6) split last week, beating TCU at home, 82-81, and then losing to UCF on the road, 75-61. The Red Raiders host Texas on Tuesday and then travel to West Virginia on Saturday.
BYU (19-8, 7-7) split last week, beating Baylor at home, 78-71, and then falling to Kansas State on the road, 84-74. BYU will be at Kansas on Tuesday and host TCU on Saturday.
AP Top 25 Men’s Poll for Feb. 26
No. 1 Houston
No. 2 Purdue
No. 3 UConn
No. 4 Tennessee
No. 5 Marquette
No. 6 Arizona
No. 7 Kansas
No. 8 Iowa State
No. 9 North Carolina
No. 10 Duke
No. 11 Auburn
No. 12 Creighton
No. 13 Illinois
No. 14 Alabama
No. 15 Baylor
No. 16 Kentucky
No. 17 Saint Mary’s
No. 18 South Carolina
No. 19 Washington State
No. 20 San Diego State
No. 21 Dayton
No. 22 Utah STate
No. 23 Gonzaga
No. 24 Florida
No. 25 USF
Big 12 teams receiving votes: BYU 92, Texas Tech 65, TCU 45, Oklahoma 7.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
