Purdue tops preseason AP Top 25 males’s hoops ballot for 1st time

Purdue is No. 1 within the preseason Associated Press Top 25 faculty basketball ballot for the primary time.

The Boilermakers earned 35 of 61 first-place votes to high Monday’s ballot to start the 2025-26 season. That put Matt Painter’s squad forward of the 2 groups that performed in final season’s NCAA title recreation, with runner-up Houston at No. 2 and reigning champion Florida at No. 3.

“We are obviously excited to get the season going and being ranked No. 1 in the preseason is a great indicator of what we feel this team can accomplish,” Painter mentioned. “But the goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the year. We’re thrilled that people think this highly of our team, but there is a long ways to go and a lot of work to do to reach that goal in April.”

Purdue began a season ranked as excessive as No. 2 as soon as earlier than, in 1987-88 below Gene Keady.

It’s one other milestone for Painter, the previous Keady participant who has constructed his personal profitable program that’s nonetheless on the lookout for its NCAA title breakthrough as he enters his twenty first season. Purdue had by no means been ranked No. 1 in any AP ballot earlier than the 2021-22 season, which marked the primary of three straight seasons wherein the Boilermakers have reached the highest. The final was through the 2023-24 season behind two-time AP nationwide participant of the yr Zach Edey in a run all the way in which to the nationwide title recreation.

The Boilermakers reached final yr’s Sweet 16 earlier than falling to Houston on a last-second basket, however return a first-team AP All-American in level guard Braden Smith, scoring chief Trey Kaufman-Renn (20.1 PPG) and veteran guard Fletcher Loyer.

The high tier

Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars earned 16 first-place votes to match this system’s best-ever preseason AP rating after final season’s run to the ultimate. The different No. 2 look was by the 1967-68 workforce led by Elvin Hayes.

Todd Golden’s Gators earned eight first-place votes of their highest preseason rating for the reason that final time they entered a season as reigning champions in 2006-07, the beginning of a run to a second straight title.

UConn was subsequent at No. 4 and earned the remaining two first-place votes. St. John’s was fifth, with Rick Pitino’s Red Storm surpassing this system’s earlier finest rating in a preseason AP ballot (No. 7 in 1984-85).

Duke was subsequent at No. 6, adopted by Michigan, BYU — which landed the nation’s No. 1 recruit in A.J. Dybantsa — Kentucky and Texas Tech to spherical out the highest 10.

Quick transitions

It hasn’t taken lengthy for Pat Kelsey to get Louisville again among the many nationwide elite, with the Cardinals checking in at No. 11 after a 27-win season to begin his tenure. The Cardinals had been 12-52 within the two seasons earlier than his arrival.

Louisville is one among 5 packages with a second-year coach within the preseason ballot, becoming a member of Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and No. 14 Arkansas with John Calipari.

Jayhawks decrease

Kansas checked in at No. 19, the bottom preseason rank for Bill Self’s Jayhawks since beginning at No. 24 within the 2008-09 season because the reigning nationwide champion. Kansas had been ranked exterior the highest 10 solely as soon as since that yr (No. 13 in 2011-12) whereas beginning at No. 1 in 2019-20 in addition to every of the previous two seasons in that stretch.

Pearl’s debut

Auburn opens at No. 20 because it enters its first season for the reason that sudden retirement of coach Bruce Pearl following final season’s Final Four run.

Pearl stepped apart final month after 11 seasons, triggering a transition to his 38-year-old son, Steven, who climbed his father’s workers by means of the elder Pearl’s Auburn tenure however has by no means been a head coach nor coached elsewhere in faculty.

Conference watch

The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 every had six ranked groups to make up 72% of the sphere. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East had been subsequent with three every, whereas the West Coast Conference had one with No. 21 Gonzaga. The Big 12 was the one league of that group to have three top-10 groups.

Watch record

Will Wade’s arrival at NC State and subsequent roster shake-up have the Wolfpack as the primary workforce exterior the ballot, sitting simply three factors behind Twenty fifth-ranked rival North Carolina from the ACC. Oregon is lurking shut behind coming into its sixteenth yr below Dana Altman.