As we expected, the Houston Cougars moved up to #5 in the AP Poll on Monday.
TOP 5!
Houston moves to #5 in the new AP Top 25 Poll. It is UH’s first top-five appearance since the final poll of 1984. #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/ZI7ZvRxu3T
— GoCoogs.com (@gocoogs1) December 28, 2020
The Cougars improved with nearly half the AP voters and most of the computer ratings, too (see the end of this article). Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times moved UH from ninth to 3rd on his ballot. Voter Ken Weinman moved UH down two spots in order to bump Tennessee to #4 after their impressive home wins over 0-5 Saint Joe’s and 0-8 South Carolina Upstate.
All told, 58 of 64 ballots had the Cougars at 7th or better.
| Pollster | Organization | 12/28 | 12/21 | 12/14 | 12/7 | 11/30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Ballou | CBS Austin | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 12 |
| Chris Basnett | Lincoln JS | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| Mark Berman | Roanoke Times | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Sam Blum | Dallas News | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| David Borges | Connecticut Insider | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 |
| Rick Bozich | WDRB (KY) | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Jeff Borzello | ESPN (NYC) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Kevin Brockway | Gainesville Sun (FL) | 5 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Lauren Brownlow | WRAL (NC) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| Joe Buettner | Norman Transcript | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
| Jeff Call | Deseret News (UT) | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 13 |
| Jerry Carino | Gannett (NJ) | 5 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 11 |
| David Cloninger | The State (SC) | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 11 |
| Clayton Collier | WATN (TN) | 5 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 11 |
| James Crepea | Oregonian | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Seth Davis | The Athletic (NYC) | 12 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 18 |
| Luke DeCock | News & Observer (VA) | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Donna Ditota | Syracuse P-S | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Doug Doughty | Roanoke Times | 3 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 17 |
| Jack Ebling | WSYM (MI) | 6 | 7 | 8 | NV | 13 |
| Wayne Epps | Richmond T-D (VA) | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Marcus Fuller | St. Paul PP (MN) | 6 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 14 |
| Geoff Grammer | ABQ Journal (NM) | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| Adam Grosbard | Orange County Register | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Jordan Hansen | Missoulian (MT) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| Steve Hewitt | Boston Herald | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 13 |
| Brian Holland | WVLA Baton Rouge | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Bob Holt | Arkansas D-G | 6 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 13 |
| Donald Hunt | Philly Tribune | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 18 |
| Cecil Hurt | Tuscaloosa News | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| David Jablonski | Dayton News | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 17 |
| Justin Jackson | Morgantown DP | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| Ethan Joyce | W-S Journal (NC) | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| Joe Juliano | Philly Inquirer | 5 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 12 |
| Lauren Kirschman | News Tribune (WA) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 13 |
| Paul Klee | Denver Gazette | 6 | 6 | 6 | NV | 6 |
| Zach Klein | WSB (Atlanta) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Chad Leistikow | DM Register (IA) | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 10 |
| Dave Matter | St. Louis P-D | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 11 |
| Kevin McNamara | Providence Journal | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 13 |
| Stephen Means | Cleveland.com | 4 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 15 |
| Craig Meyer | Pittsburgh P-G | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| Sheldon Mickles | BR Advocate (LA) | 5 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 14 |
| Chris Murray | Nevada Sports Net | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 10 |
| Matt Murschel | Orlando Sentinel | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 16 |
| Jesse Newell | KC Star | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 10 |
| Bruce Pascoe | Arizona D-S | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| Dave Preston | WTOP Radio (DC) | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 18 |
| Troy Provost-Heron | Knoxville DT | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Jeff Rabjohns | 247 Sports (IN) | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| BJ Rains | Idaho P-T | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Scott Richey | News Gazette (IL) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Jon Rothstein | CBS Sports (NYC) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Shannon Ryan | Chicago Tribune | 7 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 12 |
| Ben Steele | Milwaukee JS | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| Nick Suss | Clarion Ledger (MS) | 5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 11 |
| Edgar Thompson | Orlando Sentinel | 4 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 7 |
| Stephen Tsai | Honolulu Advertiser | 7 | 8 | NV | NV | NV |
| Dick Vitale | ESPN (FL) | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 |
| Josh Vitale | Mont Advertiser (AL) | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Ken Weinman | 105.7 The Fan (MD) | 6 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| John Werner | Waco T-H | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Scott Wolf | LA Daily News | 6 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| Jon Wilner | San Jose MN | 8 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
| Point Total: | 1313 | 1272 | 1169 | 1090 | 949 | |
| Total Voters | 64 | 64 | 62 | 61 | 63 | |
| Final Ranking: | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 |
UH moved up to 5th in the USA Today Coaches Poll as well. And in Tuesday’s Joe Lunardi Bracketology, the Cougars moved to the top of the two-seeds. One more move up and UH will be projected as a one-seed. Whoa!
Next week, the first iteration of the NCAA NET will be released and I expect the Cougars to be in the top 5 there, as well. The NET loves wins by 10 or more points and, through seven games, the Coogs have won six by 10+ points and another by nine points.
Houston inched up in the computer ratings and is now top-10 in all major rating systems including 3rd in the Massey Composite.
| Ranking System | 12/29 | 12/21 | 12/14 | 12/7 | 11/30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KenPom: | 8 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| T-Rank: | 7 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 7 |
| ESPN BPI: | 8 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 12 |
| Sagarin: | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Massey: | 4 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Massey Composite: | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
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