The Purdue basketball team entered the season as the preseason No. 1 in the rankings. Recently, Houston jumped Purdue to get the top spot, putting the Boilermakers at No. 2. However, an 87-80 win over No. 8 Alabama was a positive sign for the Purdue basketball team.
On Monday, the new Associated Press top 25 poll was released, and Purdue was right back in the top spot.
Here is the entire top 25 after the new polls were released on Monday.
- Purdue
- Houston
- UConn
- Arizona
- Duke
- Louisville
- Michigan
- Illinois
- BYU
- Florida
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- Gonzaga
- St. John's
- Texas Tech
- Iowa State
- Michigan State
- North Carolina
- UCLA
- Tennessee
- Arkansas
- Auburn
- Wisconsin
- Kansas
- NC State
Purdue has four wins this season, coming against Evansville, Oakland, Alabama and Akron.
ClutchPoints' Bailey Bassett had Purdue at No. 1 in the preseason rankings as well, so it was a common trend.
“Purdue is ranked first in both the AP Poll and here in ClutchPoints' power rankings. The Boilermakers have been ranked as high as first in the AP Poll in four of the last five seasons. They come into this year as the favorites to finally break through and win the NCAA Tournament. As per usual, the team has an interior presence, highlighted by Trey Kaufman-Renn. He has the best point guard in the country to facilitate him the ball, too, as Braden Smith is the lone returning college player from last year's First-Team All-American squad,” Bassett wrote in November.
Houston is also 4-0 with wins over Lehigh, Towson, Oakland and a one-point win over Auburn, so Houston passing Purdue was a surprising move in the first place.
Purdue faces Memphis, Eastern Illinois and Rutgers before a top-25 matchup against Iowa State, but Matt Painter's team can enjoy the top spot once again.
