Four Big 12 teams made the first regular-season AP men’s basketball poll, and all four moved up. The one at the front of the line plays for Kelvin Sampson.

Houston (2-0) climbed two spots to No. 8, the highest ranking in the league. The Cougars earned the jump Sunday night at the Tahoe Blue Event Center, beating Cal 86-68 in the inaugural Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic. It was an 18-point win away from home against a power-conference opponent, which is the kind of result that gets voters’ attention.

It also fits what Sampson’s teams do. Houston wins in other people’s gyms, and it wins by enough that nobody has to argue about it afterward.

Where the Big 12 stands

Houston’s 947 points put the Cougars 133 ahead of the next Big 12 team, Arizona. The gap down the rest of the league is wider:

  • No. 8 Houston (2-0), 947 points, up two: The league’s highest-ranked team, and the only Big 12 team in the top 10.

  • No. 12 Arizona (1-1), 814 points, up seven: The biggest riser among the four, even with a loss already on its record.

  • No. 15 Kansas (2-0), 717 points, up two: Ninety-seven points behind Arizona and 230 behind Houston.

  • No. 16 Texas Tech (2-0), 480 points, up three: A 237-point drop from Kansas, the biggest gap in the group.

The league’s best team sits in the top 10, and its next-best team sits in the 12-to-16 range, with plenty of room for movement either way.

The top of the poll

Florida (2-0) is No. 1 with 53 first-place votes and 1,490 points. The Gators are the same program that beat Houston in the 2025 national championship game, so the Cougars know the road to the top runs through Gainesville. Duke is second with seven first-place votes and 1,432 points, followed by Illinois, UConn, Michigan State, Virginia and Texas, which sits at No. 7. Houston is next, 543 points behind Florida.

Tuesday will test the Big 12

The Cougars have a quiet Tuesday, but their league mates will be busy.

Kansas goes to Kentucky at 9:30 p.m. ET, a chance to turn a ranking into a statement. Texas Tech has an even bigger opportunity at 8 p.m. ET, when No. 3 Illinois visits. Arizona hosts Northern Arizona at 9 p.m. ET, and a clean win would settle a 1-1 team that jumped seven spots.

Meanwhile, Florida visits Florida State at 6 p.m. ET, and No. 2 Duke goes to No. 5 Michigan State at 7 p.m. ET. Results at the top could shift the board in a hurry.

What’s next for Houston

The Cougars return to Fertitta Center on Wednesday, Nov. 11, to host Jacksonville State at 8 p.m. ET. It’s a chance for Sampson’s team to protect its ranking at home, in front of a crowd that will see a Top 10 team take the floor.

Early polls are written in pencil, and the schedule will do plenty of erasing. But for now, Houston is No. 8, 2-0 and the Big 12’s best, with three league rivals close enough to make it interesting.