Houston Cougars Stay Put in Week 8 AP Poll Despite Statement Ranked Win
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Despite the Houston Cougars' explosive 94-85 win over Arkansas on Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., this wasn't enough to improve their stance in the Week 8 AP Poll Top 25 release on Monday, as they stayed put at No. 8.
.@isiah_harwell1 & Coogs ➡️ #️⃣8️⃣ in this week's @AP_Top25 poll
— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) December 22, 2025
🔗 – https://t.co/1cQUVKmTfG#ForTheCity x #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/p8y0Q0nwIV
Houston's mere extension of its best offensive outing from Dec. 13 against New Orleans, in playing much like an SEC offense against the mind of coach John Calipari, turned heads across the college basketball community on a Saturday filled with statements across the Big 12 conference.
Even though the win gave the Cougars their second-ranked win of the season and second Quad 1 win, both of which these opportunities came against SEC opponents, Houston has now not received first-place votes for four consecutive weeks, as it may have largely been tied to its 76-73 loss to Tennessee in the Players Era tournament on Nov. 25.
Once again though, Houston has looked like a significantly improved team offensively, and with a season-high 94 points against a Quad 1 opponent, fueled by a combined 43 points from freshman guard Kingston Flemings and redshirt senior guard Emanuel Sharp, it begs to question for some as to why this wasn't enough for even the slightest of a boost in its AP Poll stance.
How the poll above Houston fared
Outside of undefeated Arizona, Michigan and Iowa State composing the top three each with dominant wins, there were a few cases that potentially could've helped Houston land a first-place vote and improve its stance back into territory of contending for a top seed in March.
NEW: College Basketball AP Poll🏀https://t.co/zSJvye0x26 pic.twitter.com/nCarhoW6OU
— On3 (@On3sports) December 22, 2025
Although No. 5 Purdue's 88-60 blowout win over Auburn in Indianapolis turned heads in a neutral site ranked contest down the road from West Lafayette, the win bumped the Tigers out of the AP Top 25, compared to Houston's win only moving Arkansas back four spots.
The latest poll releases also appeared to put Purdue on a bit of a quicker recovery track from suffering its blowout home loss to Iowa State on Dec. 6 compared to Houston's lone loss to Tennessee in Las Vegas.
Another case that might've improved Houston's stance was its Big 12 rival Texas Tech grabbing a comeback 82-81 win over Duke in Madison Square Garden on Saturday to hand the Blue Devils their first loss of the season. However, since it came at later date and by a smaller margin compared to Houston's lone loss, the voters might've regarded Duke as a stronger and higher priority in the rankings.
In the end, this won't be entirely reflective of the Cougars in the sense that with Big 12 play approaching right around the corner, their ability to turn that corner while other teams experience the wear and tear from league play could play pivotal in getting back to a familiar spot near the top.
Michael Carrara is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He attends the University of Houston, where he is a journalism major and a marketing minor. He is also a sports writer and reporter for the Daily Cougar, having covered baseball as an NCBWA member. You can find Michael on all major social media channels, including X on @michaelcoalec.