HOUSTON (KIAH) — Despite reaching the national championship game last season, the University of Houston men’s basketball team will enter the new season ranked second in the Associated Press’ preseason rankings.

The Cougars, led by head coach Kelvin Sampson, got 16 first-place votes, but Purdue got 35 first-place votes to put the Boilermakers at the top of the AP preseason Top 25. The No. 2 ranking ties the best preseason ranking for UH, which was back in the beginning of the 1967-68 season.

This also marked the 107th consecutive week that UH has been ranked in the AP poll, the nation’s longest active streak. The Cougars have been ranked in at least one national poll every week since Jan. 20, 2020.

The Cougars will open the season with an exhibition game against Mississippi State on Oct.

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