College basketball rankings: Houston reaching new heights with another Big 12 regular-season title
The Cougars clinched a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship with a win vs. Texas Tech
By
Gary Parrish
•
2 min read
I was the Memphis beat writer for The Commercial Appeal newspaper from 2002 to 2006, point being I made multiple trips to Houston for Conference USA matchups between the Tigers and Cougars. In my four full seasons on the beat, this is how Houston finished in C-USA:
- 2003: 11th
- 2004: 13th
- 2005: T-6th
- 2006: 4th
While watching the Cougars late Monday secure at least a share of the Big 12 title for the second straight year with a 69-62 victory at Texas Tech, I couldn't help but think about how improbable all of this is given where the program was before Kelvin Sampson took over in April 2014. Houston made exactly one NCAA Tournament appearance in the 21 years before Sampson was hired and had not won a conference championship — not even a C-USA championship! — since 1992. I remember Hofheinz Pavilion, their out-dated home at the time, being dark and empty each game I visited. This is where Phi Slama Jama played? It was all kinda sad to see up close.
But Sampson has flipped things completely.
He guided Houston to an American Athletic Conference championship in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023 — and he would've also done it in 2021 if not for imbalanced schedules caused by COVID cancellations. (Undeniably, he had the best team in the AAC that season too.) Then, in advance of last season, Houston moved to the Big 12, a conference that had consistently rated as the sport's best, and immediately started running through it like it's the AAC.
Houston went 15-3 in the Big 12 last season and won the conference by multiple games. Now the Cougars are 16-1 in the Big 12 this season and in possession of a three-game lead in the loss column of the league standings over second-place Arizona, meaning Houston is about to win a second straight outright Big 12 title by multiple games. It really is incredible stuff that's helped lift the Cougars to No. 3 in Tuesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, which caused Florida and Alabama to be pushed down one spot each, no fault of their own.
For what it's worth, at 24-4 overall, including 8-4 in Quadrant 1, Houston is now the sport's only team besides top-ranked Auburn with at least eight Q1 wins and fewer than five total losses. The Cougars will enter Saturday's matchup with Cincinnati on a seven-game winning streak. A victory there will secure Sampson's fourth consecutive outright conference championship
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
2
Houston
1
Florida
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Johni Broome finished with 31 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's 82-70 win over Georgia. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday against Ole Miss. | -- | 32-6 |
| 2 |  | Cooper Flagg finished with 16 points and five assists in Saturday's 110-67 win over Illinois. The Blue Devils' next game is Tuesday at Miami. | -- | 35-4 |
| 3 |  | Milos Uzan finished with 22 points and two steals in Monday's 69-61 win at Texas Tech. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Cincinnati. | 2 | 35-5 |
| 4 |  | Rueben Chinyelu finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds in Saturday's 79-65 win at LSU. The Gators' next game is Tuesday at Georgia. | 1 | 36-4 |
| 5 |  | Mark Sears finished with 30 points and four assists in Saturday's 96-83 win over Kentucky. The Crimson Tide's next game is Tuesday against Mississippi State. | 1 | 28-9 |
| 6 |  | Chaz Lanier finished with 30 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 77-69 win at Texas A&M. The Vols' next game is Tuesday at LSU. | -- | 30-8 |
| 7 |  | Jase Richardson finished with 21 points and six rebounds in Friday's 75-62 win at Michigan. The Spartans' next game is Wednesday at Maryland. | -- | 30-7 |
| 8 |  | Zuby Ejiofor finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in Sunday's 89-75 win over UConn. The Red Storm's next game is Wednesday at Butler. | -- | 31-5 |
| 9 |  | Joshua Jefferson was 1 of 9 from the field in Saturday's 68-59 loss at Houston. The Cyclones' next game is Tuesday at Oklahoma State. | -- | 25-10 |
| 10 |  | John Blackwell was 2 of 9 from the field in Saturday's 77-73 loss to Oregon. The Badgers' next game is Tuesday against Washington. | -- | 27-10 |
| 11 |  | Solomon Washington was 1 of 6 from the field in Saturday's 77-69 loss to Tennessee. The Aggies' next game is Wednesday against Vanderbilt. | -- | 23-11 |
| 12 |  | Roddy Gayle Jr. finished with 12 points and five rebounds in Monday's 49-46 win at Nebraska. The Wolverines' next game is Thursday against Rutgers. | 1 | 27-10 |
| 13 |  | Christian Anderson was 2 of 11 from the field in Monday's 69-61 loss to Houston. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday at Kansas. | 1 | 28-9 |
| 14 |  | Caleb Grill was 4 of 14 from the field in Saturday's 92-85 loss at Arkansas. The Tigers' next game is Tuesday against South Carolina. | -- | 22-12 |
| 15 |  | Cameron Matthews was 1 of 5 from the field in Saturday's 93-87 loss at Oklahoma. The Bulldogs' next game is Tuesday at Alabama. | -- | 21-13 |
| 16 |  | Otega Oweh was 1 of 9 from the field in Saturday's 96-83 loss at Alabama. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday at Oklahoma. | -- | 24-12 |
| 17 |  | Braden Smith was 2-of-8 from the field with six turnovers in Sunday's 73-58 loss at Indiana. The Boilermakers' next game is Friday against UCLA. | -- | 24-12 |
| 18 |  | Chucky Hepburn finished with 29 points and five steals in Saturday's 89-81 win over Florida State. The Cardinals' next game is Tuesday at Virginia Tech. | -- | 27-8 |
| 19 |  | Jaden Bradley was 0 of 2 from 3-point range with three turnovers in Saturday's 96-95 loss to BYU. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday against Utah. | -- | 24-13 |
| 20 |  | David Joplin was 2 of 10 from the field in Friday's 81-66 loss at Villanova. The Golden Eagles' next game is Tuesday against Providence. | -- | 23-11 |
| 21 |  | Matthew Murrell was 1 of 5 from the field in Saturday's 77-72 loss at Vanderbilt. The Rebels' next game is Wednesday at Auburn. | -- | 24-12 |
| 22 |  | Steven Ashworth finished with 20 points and seven assists in Sunday's 80-69 win over Georgetown. The Bluejays' next game is Wednesday against DePaul. | -- | 25-11 |
| 23 |  | Rodney Rice finished with 22 points and four rebounds in Thursday's 88-71 win over USC. The Terrapins' next game is Wednesday against Michigan State. | -- | 27-9 |
| 24 |  | Dain Dainja finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday's 84-65 win over Florida Atlantic. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday against Rice. | -- | 29-6 |
| 25 |  | Jaeden Zackery finished with 19 points and seven assists in Saturday's 79-69 win at SMU. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday against Notre Dame. | -- | 27-7 |
| 26 |  | Mikey Lewis finished with 18 points and two rebounds in Saturday's 74-67 win at Gonzaga. The Gaels' next game is Thursday at Loyola Marymount. | -- | 29-6 |
