NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Duke, fall in latest top 25 power ranking

2. Houston (8-0)

It’s hard to find much to complain about across Houston’s perfect start to this season. This is an important season for a Cougars program that has been elite in recent years as they begin play in the Big 12. Houston enters that new conference as a favorite right off the bat and certainly have the potential to reach January with this unbeaten record.

Winners of the Charleston Classic a few weeks ago, Houston survived their first road game of the season with a 66-60 win at Xavier, played as part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle. The Cougars looked great early and survived Xavier’s late runs, delivering their eighth straight win to begin the season. LJ Cryer was excellent with his 23-point effort while Houston survived perhaps their worst shooting effort of the season.

The defense of the Cougars is going to cause nightmares for their opponents this season and that was certainly on display against the Musketeers. This program is not going to be intimidated by their new conference and have made quick work of many of their initial opponents this season. They’ll have an intriguing game against Texas A&M in two weeks but not much else should challenge them before the start of Big 12 play.