Houston is No. 1, North Carolina falls out of men’s basketball poll

Houston retains the No. 1 ranking in the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll. But perhaps the bigger news this week involves the team the Cougars replaced at the top, as North Carolina has gone from No. 1 to unranked in just two weeks.

Houston received 21 of 31 first-place votes submitted this week. Texas holds at No. 2, picking up four top votes. Virginia remains at No. 3, but No. 4 Purdue is closing the gap. The Boilermakers move up a spot in the rankings and claimed six No. 1 nods. Connecticut also moves up a notch to round out the top five.

Defending national champ Kansas is No. 6 this week, followed by Tennessee and Arkansas. Arizona, which dropped its first game of the year to unranked Utah, falls five positions to No. 9. Another SEC squad, Alabama, moves into the No. 10 slot. Unbeaten Maryland makes the week’s biggest jump, vaulting nine places to No. 13.

North Carolina, meanwhile, dropped its fourth game in a row Sunday at Virginia Tech and is out of the Top 25 altogether after being picked first in the preseason. Michigan State, which also now has four losses in the season’s first month, also drops out.

Iowa enters at No. 24, and TCU rejoins the poll at No. 25.