Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Purdue is ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll for the first time.
The Boilermakers earned 35 of 61 first-place votes to top Monday’s voting for the start of the 2025-26 season. This put Matt Painter’s team ahead of the two teams that played last year NCAA Title game with runner-up houston Number 2 and defending champion Florida At number 3.
“We’re obviously excited to get the season going and being ranked No. 1 in the preseason is a great indicator of what we think this team can accomplish,” Painter said. “But the goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the year. We’re thrilled that people think that way about our team, but there’s a long way to go and a lot of work to do to reach that goal in April.”
Purdue had started as high as No. 2 a year earlier in 1987–88 under Gene Keady.
It’s another milestone for Painter, a former KD player who built his own successful program that is still looking for its NCAA title success as he enters his 21st season. Purdue had never been ranked No. 1 in any AP poll prior to the 2021–22 season, which was the first of three consecutive seasons in which the Boilermakers reached the top. The last time was a run to the national title game behind two-time AP National Player of the Year Zack Ade during the 2023–24 season.
The Boilermakers reached the Sweet 16 last year before losing to Houston on a last-second basket, but return first-team AP All-American in point guard Braden Smith, scoring leader Trey Coffman-Wrenn (20.1) and veteran guard Fletcher Lauer.
top level
Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars earned 16 first-place votes to tie the program’s best-ever preseason AP ranking after last year’s final. The second No. 2 appearance was the 1967–68 team led by Elvin Hayes.
Todd Golden’s Gators earned eight first-place votes and began the year with their highest preseason ranking since the last time they entered a year as defending champions in 2006–07, beginning a run for a second consecutive title.
UConn was next at No. 4 and earned the remaining two first-place votes. St. John’s was ranked fifth, with Rick Pitino’s Red Storm surpassing the program’s previous best ranking in the preseason AP poll (No. 7 in 1984–85).
Duke was next at No. 6, followed by Michigan, BYU – which ranked the nation’s No. 1 recruit in AJ DiBuntsa – Kentucky and Texas Tech rounded out the top 10.
quick change
It didn’t take long for Pat Kelsey to bring Louisville back into the national elite, with the Cardinals checking in at No. 11 after a 27-win season to start his tenure. The Cardinals were 12–52 in the two seasons prior to his arrival.
Louisville is one of five programs with a second-year coach in the preseason poll, joining Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and No. 14 Arkansas under John Calipari.
jayhawks lower
Kansas entered the season ranked No. 19, the lowest preseason rank for Bill Self’s Jayhawks since starting the 2008–09 season at No. 24 as the defending national champions. Kansas was ranked outside the top 10 only once since that year (No. 13 in 2011–12) while starting 2019–20 at No. 1 as well as in each of the previous two seasons over that span.
Pearl’s debut
golden brown color It opens at No. 20, entering its first season following the unexpected retirement of coach Bruce Pearl following last year’s Final Four run.
Pearl stepped down last month after 11 seasons, triggering a transition for his 38-year-old son Steven, who ascended to his father’s staff during the elder Pearl’s Auburn tenure but has never been a head coach nor coached anywhere else in college.
conference clock
The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 each had six ranked teams to make up 72% of the field. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East were next with three each, while the West Coast Conference had one with No. 21 Gonzaga. The Big 12 was the only league of that group to have three top 10 teams.
view list
Will Wade’s arrival at NC State and the subsequent roster shakeup has the Wolfpack as the first team out of the pole, just three points behind rival North Carolina at 25th in the ACC. oregon Dana is about to enter its 16th year under Altman’s leadership.
,
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP College Basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball