updated 9:40 a.m.
After coming off quarantine and getting back on the floor for a game, the Cougars appear strong in this week’s AP Poll. It will be a battle between UH and Villanova to see who takes over the 5th spot, which will be vacated after Michigan State’s bad loss Sunday night.
Through 10 ballots, UH has added 13 new points from a week ago while Villanova has added 16. UH was six points ahead of Villanova last Monday. Since then, the Wildcats have beaten Butler and St. Joe’s by 19 and 20, respectively.
Here are the early votes:
| Pollster | Organization | 12/21 | 12/14 | 12/7 | 11/30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Ballou | CBS Austin | 6 | 7 | 6 | 12 |
| Chris Basnett | Lincoln JS | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| Mark Berman | Roanoke Times | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Sam Blum | Dallas News | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| David Borges | Connecticut Insider | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 |
| Rick Bozich | WDRB (KY) | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Jeff Borzello | ESPN (NYC) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Kevin Brockway | Gainesville Sun (FL) | 4 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Lauren Brownlow | WRAL (NC) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| Joe Buettner | Norman Transcript | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
| Jeff Call | Deseret News (UT) | 6 | 7 | 9 | 13 |
| Jerry Carino | Gannett (NJ) | 5 | 7 | 11 | 11 |
| David Cloninger | The State (SC) | 5 | 6 | 8 | 11 |
| Clayton Collier | WATN (TN) | 6 | 7 | 11 | 11 |
| James Crepea | Oregonian | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Seth Davis | The Athletic (NYC) | 15 | 18 | 17 | 18 |
| Luke DeCock | News & Observer (VA) | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Donna Ditota | Syracuse P-S | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Doug Doughty | Roanoke Times | 9 | 6 | 5 | 17 |
| Jack Ebling | WSYM (MI) | 7 | 8 | NV | 13 |
| Wayne Epps | Richmond T-D (VA) | 5 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Marcus Fuller | St. Paul PP (MN) | 6 | 8 | 14 | 14 |
| Geoff Grammer | ABQ Journal (NM) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| Adam Grosbard | Orange County Register | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Jordan Hansen | Missoulian (MT) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| Steve Hewitt | Boston Herald | 7 | 9 | 12 | 13 |
| Brian Holland | WVLA Baton Rouge | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Bob Holt | Arkansas D-G | 8 | 9 | 13 | 13 |
| Donald Hunt | Philly Tribune | 4 | 4 | 4 | 18 |
| Cecil Hurt | Tuscaloosa News | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| David Jablonski | Dayton News | 8 | 8 | 7 | 17 |
| Justin Jackson | Morgantown DP | 6 | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| Ethan Joyce | W-S Journal (NC) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| Joe Juliano | Philly Inquirer | 6 | 7 | 10 | 12 |
| Lauren Kirschman | News Tribune (WA) | 8 | 10 | 11 | 13 |
| Paul Klee | Denver Gazette | 6 | 6 | NV | 6 |
| Zach Klein | WSB (Atlanta) | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Chad Leistikow | DM Register (IA) | 6 | 6 | 5 | 10 |
| Dave Matter | St. Louis P-D | 6 | 7 | 7 | 11 |
| Kevin McNamara | Providence Journal | 8 | 10 | 13 | 13 |
| Stephen Means | Cleveland.com | 4 | 10 | 10 | 15 |
| Craig Meyer | Pittsburgh P-G | 4 | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| Sheldon Mickles | BR Advocate (LA) | 5 | 7 | 11 | 14 |
| Chris Murray | Nevada Sports Net | 5 | 7 | 6 | 10 |
| Matt Murschel | Orlando Sentinel | 4 | 6 | 7 | 16 |
| Jesse Newell | KC Star | 9 | 7 | 6 | 10 |
| Bruce Pascoe | Arizona D-S | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| Dave Preston | WTOP Radio (DC) | 8 | 9 | 12 | 18 |
| Troy Provost-Heron | Knoxville DT | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Jeff Rabjohns | 247 Sports (IN) | 5 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| BJ Rains | Idaho P-T | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Scott Richey | News Gazette (IL) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Jon Rothstein | CBS Sports (NYC) | 4 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Shannon Ryan | Chicago Tribune | 7 | 8 | 11 | 12 |
| Ben Steele | Milwaukee JS | 4 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| Nick Suss | Clarion Ledger (MS) | 6 | 8 | 7 | 11 |
| Edgar Thompson | Orlando Sentinel | 4 | 9 | 7 | 7 |
| Stephen Tsai | Honolulu Advertiser | 8 | NV | NV | NV |
| Dick Vitale | ESPN (FL) | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 |
| Josh Vitale | Mont Advertiser (AL) | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Ken Weinman | 105.7 The Fan (MD) | 4 | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| John Werner | Waco T-H | 4 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Scott Wolf | LA Daily News | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| Jon Wilner | San Jose MN | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
| Point Total: | 1272 | 1169 | 1090 | 949 | |
| Total Voters | 64 | 62 | 61 | 63 | |
| Final Ranking: | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 |
The Cougars are holding strong with the computers. As other schools have added more data points, you’d expect UH to slide a good bit while inactive. There’s been some falling but not as bad as I expected:
| Ranking System | 12/21 | 12/14 | 12/7 | 11/30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KenPom: | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| T-Rank: | 10 | 8 | 10 | 7 |
| ESPN BPI: | 10 | 11 | 13 | 12 |
| Sagarin: | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Massey: | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Massey Composite: | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
