UH No. 23 in AP Top 25 poll; ranked for first time since 2005

Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson and his players celebrate the 73-59 upset win over Wichita State after their game at H&PE Arena at Texas State University Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, in Houston, TX. (Michael Wyke / For the Chronicle) less Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson and his players celebrate the 73-59 upset win over Wichita State after their game at H&PE Arena at Texas State University Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, in Houston, TX. (Michael Wyke ... more Photo: Michael Wyke, For The Chronicle Photo: Michael Wyke, For The Chronicle Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close UH No. 23 in AP Top 25 poll; ranked for first time since 2005 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

Welcome back to the national rankings, Houston.

After more than 12 years out of the rankings, the Cougars entered the Associated Press men’s basketball poll on Monday at No. 23. UH was last ranked in the AP poll for one week early in the 2005 season.

“It gives our program great credibility,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. “It gives our kids something they can touch and say ‘look what we accomplished.’ It means you’re one of the 25 best teams in America.”

The Cougars (21-6) made the jump into the poll after upsetting fifth-ranked Cincinnati and crushing Temple by 21 points on the road.

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Not only have the Cougars won five in a row and seven of the last eight games, they have surged within one game, along with Wichita State, of Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference with two weeks left in the regular season.

UH looks like a lock for the NCAA Tournament at this point with a pair of top-10 wins over Wichita State and Cincinnati, a first for the program since the 1983-84 season, and six ‘Quadrant 1’ wins that will be heavily weighed by the NCAA selection committee.

Once a staple in the Top 25 during the Elvin Hayes-led days of the late 1960s and the Phi Slama Jama dynasty of the early 1980s, the Cougars have spent only three weeks in the national rankings since finishing as national runner-up in 1983-84. UH was ranked No. 25 for two weeks in 1992 and for one week in 2005.

The Cougars are also ranked No. 23 in the USA Today coaches poll.

It's the first time the Cougars have been ranked in both major polls since the end of the Phi Slama Jama dynasty in 1984.

When the Cougars take the court Thursday at Memphis, it will have been 408 games since their last national ranking.

Since going 13-19 in Sampson’s first season, the Cougars have posted 22, 21 and 21 wins the past three seasons.

joseph.duarte@chron.com

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