3. Houston (21-2)
While it might not be at the same level as last season, Houston remains among the elite teams in the nation again this year. They’re doing it with a few new faces and some really strong play in the nation’s best conference, with a brilliant start in the Big 12. The Cougars have been brilliant on offense alongside a great defense and kept proving that into this week.
They were triumphant again Wednesday with a 79-55 win against UCF. The freshman duo of the Cougars continues playing strong ball, with 18 points and 6 assists from Kingston Flemings and a 14-point, 10-rebound outing out of Chris Cenac Jr. Comparatively, Saturday night was even sweeter, as Houston won 77-66 at BYU for another ranked win. Flemings led the charge with 19 points while Cenac added 16 points in another great showing.
Houston has been on quite the run and are now an impressive 9-1 in the Big 12. These Cougars are playing some incredible basketball and are clearly getting great contributions from those new pieces to the puzzle. They’ve now won four straight since that tough loss at Texas Tech and look to keep on track next week, facing Utah and Kansas State.