It has been 39 years since the Houston Cougars were the top-ranked team in men’s college basketball, as star freshman Jarace Walker and Marcus Sasser have returned the team to the heights to which Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler propelled it back in 1983. In the last two seasons, the Cougars have made it to the Final Four and the Elite Eight. North Carolina had previous sat in the top spot, but they lost to Iowa State and Alabama at the Phil Knight Invitational. The Cougars only faced Kent State last week and won…but in shaky fashion. Back in 1983, the Cougars’ dreams for a national title were shattered in an upset by North Carolina State, coached by Jim Valvano. Can the Cougars sustain their success? We will see. Check out the latest top 25 poll as well as some NCAA Basketball betting insights for the week.
NCAA News: College Basketball Top 25 Rankings & Betting Opportunities
#1 Houston Cougars
#2 Texas Longhorns
#3 Virginia Cavaliers
#4 Arizona Wildcats
#5 Purdue Boilermakers
#6 Baylor Bears
#7 Creighton Bluejays
#8 Connecticut Huskies
#9 Kansas Jayhawks
#10 Indiana Hoosiers
#T11 Arkansas Razorbacks
#T11 Alabama Crimson Tide
#13 Tennessee Volunteers
#14 Gonzaga Bulldogs
#15 Auburn Tigers
#16 Illinois Fighting Illini
#17 Duke Blue Devils
#18 North Carolina Tar Heels
#19 Kentucky Wildcats
#20 Ole Miss Rebels
#21 Oregon State Beavers
#22 UCF Golden Knights
#23 Texas Longhorns
#24 Cincinnati Bearcats
#25 Louisville Cardinals
The Purdue Boilermakers also have an argument to be the top-ranked team in the nation. Houston’s best victories have come against Oregon and Kent State, while the Boilermakers put on a clinic out in Portland last week. They beat West Virginia by a dozen, Gonzaga by 18 and Duke by 19. The key for them is Zach Edey, Purdue’s 7’4” center who put up 22.7 points and 10.3 boards per game in those three wins. He outplayed Gonzaga big man Drew Timme on Friday and then proceeded to foul out the whole frontcourt for Duke on Sunday. Around Edey, Purdue has four players who can knock down three-balls, distribute and just give Edey room to do what he does.
Arizona has an exciting player in Oumar Ballo, their freshman sensation from Mali. He redshirted a year at Gonzaga and then did not get much time on the floor two seasons ago. He went through the transfer portal and became a top reserve for Arizona, and he is now emerging as one of the nation’s top big men. Against Cincinnati, he had 21 points and ten rebounds, and he went 12 and 9 against San Diego State. He found another gear against Creighton, dropping 30 and 13. That gave him an average of 21.0 points and 10.7 boards per game in those three matchups, shooting 79.4% from the floor. In the last two games, he was guarded by the Mountain West and Big East defenders of the year from last season.
Iowa State pulled off a huge win over North Carolina last week, and if we’re going to be honest, dropping the Tar Heels from #1 to #18 after losing to the Cyclones and to Alabama in quadruple overtime is a bit much. The Tar Heels went on a tear after halftime in their game against Iowa State, but then the Cyclones posted a 17-3 run and limited the Tar Heels to just one field goal in the last 3:55 of regulation. Caleb Grill knocked down seven three-pointers for Iowa State, totaling 31 points on the day.
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