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Ja'Vier Francis #5 of the Houston Cougars drives to the basket on Nate Clover III #13 of the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at Fertitta Center on November 14, 2022 in Houston.
Bob Levey/Getty Images
Texas maintained its stranglehold atop the college basketball rankings on Monday, with a pair of teams from the Lone Star State standing atop the latest Associated Press poll.
The Houston Cougars defended their No. 1 overall ranking, staying in the top spot with 37 first-place votes. The Texas Longhorns remained at No. 2 for the second straight week, receiving 14 first-place votes. Virginia (3) and Purdue (8) also got first-place votes, ranking No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, while UConn rounded out the top five.
Baylor dropped six spots to No. 12, while TCU climbed back into the rankings at No. 24 after being unranked last week. Texas Tech also received top-25 votes.
Houston, playing as the top-ranked team in the country for the first time in 39 years, routed Norfolk State 100-52 last Tuesday at Fertitta Center. The Cougars, who also led the initial NCAA NET rankings released this week, went on to edge out Saint Mary's 53-48 on Saturday in a neutral-site game in Fort Worth.
Texas took down No. 7 Creighton 72-67 on Thursday in its only game last week, a win that helped their number of first-place votes increase by six. The Longhorns have a significant matchup on Tuesday with a ranked Illinois team at the Jimmy V Classic.
Baylor was blown out by an unranked Marquette squad on Tuesday before rallying for a top-15 win over Gonzaga on Friday. TCU won its only game last week, beating Providence 75-62 for its fourth consecutive double-digit victory.