12. Houston (5-1)
There have been good performances and there have been bad performances for the Cougars this season, though things were trending in a solid direction at the beginning of the week. It was mostly good in the Maui Invitational, taking care of Butler with relative ease before losing a 65-63 upset to Wisconsin in the semifinals. They demolished Oregon 78-49 in the 3rd place game, getting 15 points from Fabian White Jr. and 14 from Marcus Sasser.
In that Wisconsin game and against Hofstra in their season opener, the Cougars looked vulnerable, but in their other four performances have been very dominant, especially on defense. It’s hard to know exactly what you’re going to get from these Cougars, but if the offense is humming then you count on it being a good night in Houston. Looking ahead, home dates with Northwestern State and Bryant loom in the coming week, giving the Cougars two more chances to work out any of the kinks from those two upsetting performances.
11. Arkansas (5-0)
Five games and five wins mark a successful start for Arkansas this season, with them really proving their mettle this past week. After a few home wins, they traveled to Kansas City for the Hall of Fame Classic and took care of business. On Monday, they played great defensively in a 72-64 win over Kansas State. The following day, a date with Cincinnati became a 73-67 victory and a tournament title for the Razorbacks, off to an unbeaten start on the new season. Au’Diese Toney had 19 points in that win over the Bearcats.
The two wins look great, but Arkansas was horrible from long-range, making just three 3-pointers in both of those wins. When you take a step back, Kansas State is the low man in the Big 12 and Cincinnati is an up-and-coming team in a struggling AAC. These wins are fantastic and set the Razorbacks up for future success, but they haven’t really had their great challenge yet like some of these other top 25 teams. The next seven days will see home dates with Penn, Central Arkansas, and Little Rock and a very good chance at sitting 8-0 in time for the next rankings.
10. Arizona (6-0)
Recent years have been a struggle for Arizona, what with inconsistent play and with rumors and allegations floating around former coach Sean Miller. Now, former Gonzaga aide Tommy Lloyd has gotten his tenure with the Wildcats started fantastically. The Wildcats got their big win on Sunday against Michigan, wiping out the Wolverines in an 80-62 effort, getting 22 points from Christian Koloko. Arizona finished the week solidly, taking care of Sacramento State on Saturday night with relative ease.
Though the Wildcats weren’t making their long-range shots at the Main Event, their defense has been the calling card early this season. They’ve got six solid wins and are trending in a great direction while many of the Pac-12 teams deal with early-season issues. They get conference play started by hosting Washington and then traveling to Oregon State, two games that should be very winnable for this team based on their play so far. This Lloyd-coached Arizona squad could absolutely challenge for a Pac-12 crown this year.