On Monday, UH climbed one spot to No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The team was helped by two wins last week by 20 or more points, as well as the previously fifth-ranked Texas Longhorns' one-point loss last week against Oklahoma.
Only Gonzaga, Baylor, Villanova and Michigan are ranked better this week than 15-1 Houston.
On Sunday, the Cougars won another convincing game in their schedule, this time against SMU. Marcus Sasser, who, along with Quentin Grimes, has led UH to the No. 5 ranking, scored a game-high 19 in the 70-48 win over the Mustangs.
Houston has just one game in the upcoming week: a road matchup against East Carolina, the last place team in the American Athletic Conference.
The eight remaining games in the Coogs' schedule include two matchups against Memphis and a test against the second-best team in the conference, Wichita State.
As for the history of 2020-21 Cougars' ranking, UH hasn't ranked this high since the Phi Slama Jama era team of 1983-84 was No. 2.
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And history suggests a No. 5 rank would typically put Houston in position for a top-two seed in the NCAA tournament in March.
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