NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga, Kansas drops, Duke, UNC rises in latest top 25 power ranking

1. Houston Cougars – 18-1 (6-0 AAC)

*Editor’s note: Article was written before Sunday’s loss to Temple. This would be enough to drop them to No. 5 in the rankings, moving the other 4 up.

The Cougars had just one game before Sunday, a road game at Tulane. The Green Wave was a preseason darkhorse, due to how much talent they brought back. And with a strong 5-1 start in league play, they’ve been proven folks right. But a matchup against one of the top teams in NCAA Basketball is an entirely different challenge.

The game was competitive in the first half, with the Cougars up by eight points at halftime. But slowly but surely, the better team simply couldn’t be stopped, ultimately winning the game, 80-60. Marcus Sasser tied a game-high with 23 points, while point guard Jamal Shead had 14 points and seven assists. As a team, Houston shot 54% from the field and 12/24 from deep, with Sasser making seven of them.

With that win, the Cougars are now up two games in the loss column, including over Memphis, who has losses to both UCF and Tulane. At this point, it’s more likely that the Cougars go unbeaten in league play rather than lose the regular-season title.

Houston looks to maintain its stranglehold on the standings, taking on Temple on Sunday, followed by UCF and Cincinnati. While they’ll be favored in all three games, don’t be surprised if at least one of the next opponents makes the Cougars sweat a bit.