Purdue tops preseason AP Top 25 poll for 1st time

Purdue is No. 1 successful the preseason Associated Press Top 25 assemblage hoops canvass for the archetypal time.

The Boilermakers earned 35 of 61 first-place votes to apical Monday's canvass to statesman the 2025-26 season. That enactment Matt Painter's squad up of the 2 teams that played successful past year's NCAA rubric game, with runner-up Houston astatine No. 2 and reigning champion Florida astatine No. 3.

"We are evidently excited to get the play going and being ranked No. 1 successful the preseason is simply a large indicator of what we consciousness this squad tin accomplish," Painter said. "But the extremity is to beryllium No. 1 astatine the extremity of the year. We're thrilled that radical deliberation this highly of our team, but determination is simply a agelong ways to spell and a batch of enactment to bash to scope that extremity successful April."

Purdue started a play ranked arsenic precocious arsenic No. 2 erstwhile before, successful 1987-88 nether Gene Keady.

It's different milestone for Painter, the erstwhile Keady subordinate who has built his ain palmy programme that is inactive looking for its NCAA rubric breakthrough arsenic helium enters his 21st season. Purdue had ne'er been ranked No. 1 successful immoderate AP canvass earlier the 2021-22 season, which marked the archetypal of 3 consecutive seasons successful which the Boilermakers person reached the top. The past was during the 2023-24 play down two-time AP nationalist subordinate of the twelvemonth Zach Edey successful a tally each the mode to the nationalist rubric game.

The Boilermakers reached past year's Sweet 16 earlier falling to Houston connected a last-second basket, but instrumentality a first-team AP All-American successful constituent defender Braden Smith, scoring person Trey Kaufman-Renn (20.1) and seasoned defender Fletcher Loyer.

The apical tier

Kelvin Sampson's Cougars earned 16 first-place votes to lucifer the program's best-ever preseason AP ranking aft past year's finals run. The different No. 2 quality was by the 1967-68 squad led by Elvin Hayes.

Todd Golden's Gators earned 8 first-place votes to commencement this twelvemonth with their highest preseason ranking since the past clip they entered a twelvemonth arsenic reigning champions successful 2006-07, the commencement of a tally to a 2nd consecutive title.

UConn was adjacent astatine No. 4 and earned the remaining 2 first-place votes. St. John's was fifth, with Rick Pitino's Red Storm surpassing the program's erstwhile champion ranking successful a preseason AP canvass (No. 7 successful 1984-85).

Duke was adjacent astatine No. 6, followed by Michigan, BYU -- which landed the nation's No. 1 enlistee successful A.J. Dybantsa -- Kentucky and Texas Tech to circular retired the apical 10.

Quick transitions

It hasn't taken agelong for Pat Kelsey to get Louisville backmost among the nationalist elite, with the Cardinals checking successful astatine No. 11 aft a 27-win play to commencement his tenure. The Cardinals were 12-52 successful the 2 seasons earlier his arrival.

Louisville is 1 of 5 programs with a second-year manager successful the preseason poll, joining Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and No. 14 Arkansas with John Calipari.

Jayhawks lower

Kansas checked successful astatine No. 19, the lowest preseason fertile for Bill Self's Jayhawks since starting astatine No. 24 successful the 2008-09 play arsenic the reigning nationalist champion. Kansas had been ranked extracurricular the apical 10 lone erstwhile since that twelvemonth (No. 13 successful 2011-12) portion starting astatine No. 1 successful 2019-20 arsenic good arsenic each of the past 2 seasons successful that stretch.

Pearl's debut

Auburn opens astatine No. 20 arsenic it enters its archetypal play since the unexpected status of manager Bruce Pearl pursuing past year's Final Four run.

Pearl stepped speech past period aft 11 seasons, triggering a modulation to his 38-year-old lad Steven, who climbed his father's unit done the elder Pearl's Auburn tenure but has ne'er been a caput manager nor coached elsewhere successful college.

Conference watch

The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 each had six ranked teams to marque up 72% of the field. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East were adjacent with 3 each, portion the West Coast Conference had 1 with N...