1. Houston (5-0)
The Cougars take over as our new top team based on how they’ve played this season. Before the year began, many were anticipating Houston could be this type of team, especially with the talent they were getting back on this roster. When you include Kelvin Sampson’s great coaching, it’s no wonder they’ve been a preseason national championship pick by a number of people, and they certainly look worthy two weeks in.
They made quick work of Oral Roberts in an 83-45 drubbing on Monday, limiting super-scorer Max Abmas to just 3 points while getting 23 from Tramon Mark. A few days later, Houston won another blowout, taking down Texas Southern 83-48 with 20 points and 6 assists from Marcus Sasser among the highlights. The biggest challenge came late Sunday night as the Cougars traveled to Eugene for a road test at Oregon. They improved to 5-0 with a 66-56 victory over the Ducks, with another fine performance on the defensive side of the ball.
Looking deep into the metrics, the Cougars have not allowed less than 60 points in each of their first five games, defend outside the arc exceptionally well, and have even manufacturing significant fireworks on the offensive end. Clearly, the return from injury for Sasser and Mark has had fantastic results for the Cougars and this team is playing as advertised. We’ll only see them once next week, facing off at home against a Kent State team that looks decent this season but should fall prey to this mighty Cougars lineup.
We have finished our deep dive into the current status of the top 25 teams; which teams do you think are doing better or worse than our rankings two weeks into the season?