Houston Cougars Take New Stance In Week 11 AP Poll
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Over the last three Big 12 games, the Houston Cougars have recorded an average margin of victory of 27 points.
It propelled them to a 5-0 start in Big 12 play, recently thanks to their 103-73 win over Arizona State Sunday at Fertitta Center behind freshman guard Kingston Flemings' eighth 20-point performance on the season.
It was a new program Big 12 game-record in point totals and the first time the Cougars had reached the century mark in a Big 12 game.
But it helped the Cougars meet a new high in the AP Poll for the first time since the Week 3 release, as they came in at No. 6 in the Week 11 release Monday.
.@jacobmcfar1and & @UHouston rise to #️⃣6️⃣ in this week's @AP_Top25
— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) January 19, 2026
🔗 – https://t.co/1cQUVKmTfG#ForTheCity x #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/UZmvwOz0hJ
With each passing league game for Houston, and its freshman talents growing and adapting in new styles of play compared to the beginning of the season, the college basketball community sees the team looking more and more complete, and potentially back in perennial No. 1-seed form for March.
Then again, it's not a surprise considering how coach Kelvin Sampson nodded to getting the worst days out of the way early in using league play to bolster that reputation.
Considering that teams like Michigan, who were as high as the top spot in the AP Poll with an average winning margin of 34 points in a 10-game stretch out of non-conference play, are experiencing the bumps and bruises of league play, it's only a testament to how Houston inverts that operation for the better.
But consecutive losses from a once-undefeated Big 12 opponent allowed for Houston to take one small step upward.
Cyclone woes carry Cougars ahead
In Week 10, Iowa State, at 16-0, sat with Arizona as one of the top two teams in the nation being represented by the Big 12.
But after suffering its first loss of the season in an 84-63 blowout to Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 13, a shocking occurrence the following game led to a seven-spot drop in the Week 11 poll.
The Cyclones were a two-possession favorite over Cincinnati heading into Fifth Third Arena Saturday, a familiarly tough, yet winnable ground for Houston, which was how the Cougars opened Big 12 play.
But behind graduate guard Day Day Thomas' 19 points and Cincinnati's 20 points off Iowa State's 12 turnovers, the 9-8 Bearcats spoiled junior forward Milan Momcilovic's season-high 34-point performance and handed the Cyclones a 79-70 loss to go winless in Week 10.
BREAKING: College Basketball AP Poll🏀https://t.co/sy0Lgk3wr1 pic.twitter.com/yK74RouJ4g
— On3 (@On3) January 19, 2026
Again, it's only another testament as to how Houston is built differently in a league where you can't take a road win for granted, no matter how comfortable the margin is.
With the Cougars facing the Cyclones in a road-only contest at Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 16, in one of the toughest environments to win in all of college basketball, it would make a much larger statement of being able to plow through the game's top offenses with their young, yet proven physicality for the big dance.
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.