Houston still maintains lofty position on prominent basketball analytics website

Houston remains near the top of several rankings, ranging from polls to various college basketball analytics sites.

One analytics website, in particular, has had the Cougars at the top of its rankings. With Selection Sunday this weekend and Houston on target for a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed, BartTorvik.com has the Cougars ranked second in the latest edition of its T-Rankings.

Houston is No. 2 with the site’s BARTHAG ranking at .9807, trailing only Duke, which has a BARTHAG of .9821.

The BARTHAG is a projected win percentage against an average team on a neutral court, which really comes into play the NCAA Tournament.

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Offensive and defensive efficiency is also factored into the equation, along with points scored and points allowed per possession.

Four SEC programs follow Duke and Houston in the latest BARTHAG rankings. Auburn is ranked No. 3 (.9760), Florida No. 4 (.9647), Alabama No. 5 (.9600) and Tennessee No. 6 (.9544). Then the next two ranked teams are Big 12 programs, No. 7 Texas Tech (.9534) and No. 8 Iowa State (.9459).

Another Big 12 team, BYU, is No. 10 (.9391), while Arizona is No. 11 (.9390). Kansas rounds out the Big 12 schools among the top 25, ranked No. 19 (.9294).

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Also on the site, Houston has an adjusted offensive efficiency rating of 125.5 and an adjusted defensive efficiency rating of 89.2.

Another feature on Bart Torvik’s site is that every player in Division I is ranked with a system known as PRPG!, which is a measure of points contributed over a replacement level player that is adjusted for opponent, pace and usage. The measurement is used for conference games only.

Houston graduate guard LJ Cryer has been rapidly rising in the player rankings, going from No. 48 three weeks ago to now No. 21 with a PRPG! of 5.0. He is the only Cougar ranked in the current top 50.

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Villanova 6-foot-8 senior Eric Dixon is ranked No. 1 with a PRPG! rating of 6.5 while Drake’s Bennett Srirtz is now second (6.2).

Cryer is also among the top five Big 12 players in the rankings, all within the top 25. Texas Tech’s Chance McMillian is ranked No. 10 (5.5), while West Virginia’s Javon Small is No. 13 (5.3) and Texas Tech’s JT Toppin No. 17 (5.0). After Cryer, Baylor’s Norchad Omier comes in at No. 24 (4.9).

Houston (27-4, 19-1) has currently won 10 straight games and 23 of its last 24. The Cougars will play in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship quarterfinal round at 2 p.m. Thursday in Kansas City.