Houston returns to No. 1 in men's college basketball poll

The Houston Cougars returned to No. 1 in the AP men's college basketball poll Monday for the third time this season, while Northwestern and Texas A&M barged into the rankings after each had a pair of impressive wins last week.

The Cougars, riding a seven-game winning streak, jumped over Alabama and back into the top spot, where they spent two weeks in November and December and had another two-week stint last month. They picked up 48 first-place votes from the 62-member national media panel to lay claim to No. 1 with just two weeks left in the regular season.

«This is my fourth year coaching these guys; we've developed a really good program here,» Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said, referring to his veteran leaders who went to a Final Four two years ago and the Elite Eight last season. «But the emphasis is 'we have.' One person doesn't do it. I'm proud of our program. I'm proud of everyone in it.»

The Crimson Tide dropped only one spot after losing to Tennessee and routing Georgia in their lone week at No. 1. They held onto seven first-place votes, while Kansas also earned seven to climb two spots to No. 3 in this week's poll.

UCLA remained at No. 4 while Purdue slid two spots to round out of the top five.

First-place votes in parentheses.

«We're not as good a basketball team, from a tactical standpoint, as last year's basketball team yet,» said Jayhawks coach Bill Self, whose team is trying to become the first back-to-back national champions since Florida in 2006 and '07. «From a competitive standpoint, this team is an equivalent, or on par, with that team.»

That was evident Saturday, when the Jayhawks rallied from 17 down to beat No. 9 Baylor 87-71 in Allen Fieldhouse.

Virginia was at No. 6 after beating Louisville and