Purdue Is No. 1 In Preseason AP Men’s Basketball Poll For First Time

During his time at Purdue, center Zach Edey became the first man in more than 40 years to win consecutive national player of the year honors. He also led the Boilermakers to the NCAA tournament championship game in 2024, the first time since 1980 that Purdue had made the Final Four. When Edey departed two years ago, Purdue was supposed to rebuild. Instead, the Boilermakers are arguably better than ever.

On Monday, Purdue was first in the Associated Press preseason poll for the first time in school history, another reminder of the job that coach Matt Painter has done in making the Boilermakers a consistent top program. Purdue was ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in school history in December 2021 and also reached the top spot in each of the next two seasons. But before Monday, the Boilermakers’ highest preseason ranking was second in 1987.

The Boilermakers return point guard Braden Smith, a first team AP All-American last season, as well as three other starters in forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (team-high 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season) and guard Fletcher Loyer (13.8 points per game) and C.J. Cox (6.0 points per game). Purdue should also have a strong frontcourt with the return of 7-foot-4 center Daniel Jacobsen, who missed all but two games last season due to an injury, and the addition of transfer Oscar Cluff, a 6-foot-11 center from Australia who averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds (second in Division I) last season at South Dakota State. In addition, the Boilermakers signed Omer Mayer, a 6-foot-4 guard from Israel who played the past two seasons for the Maccabi Tel Aviv professional team. Mayer, who turned 19 last week, averaged 20 points per game this summer for Israel in the FIBA U19 World Cup.

Purdue received 1,485 total points and 35 first-place votes, just ahead of No. 2 Houston, which received 1,459 points and 16 first-place votes. Houston defeated Purdue, 62-60, in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16. The Cougars advanced to the national title game, where they led by 12 points in the second half before losing, 65-63, to Florida. Houston returns three starters, including senior guards Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp, and adds two elite freshmen in center Chris Cenac Jr. and guard Isiah Hartwell, who were the No. 6 and No. 13 players in the high school class of 2025, per the 247Sports Composite. The Cougars have won at least 32 games in each of the past four seasons and should be in the mix to win the first national title in program history.

Florida is No. 3 in the preseason AP poll, with eight voters ranking the Gators first in their ballots. The Gators return forwards Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh and two talented transfer guards in Boogie Fland (Arkansas) and Xavian Lee (Princeton).

Two Big East Conference teams are next with No. 4 Connecticut and No. 5 St. John’s. UConn won the national title in 2023 and 2024 before struggling at times last season and losing to Florida in the NCAA tournament’s second round. The Huskies return several veterans, including forward Alex Karaban, guard Solo Ball and center Tarris Reed Jr., and add transfer guards Silas Demery Jr. (Georgia) and Malachi Smith (Dayton) plus freshman guard Braylon Mullins and freshman center Eric Reibe, who were No. 15 and No. 28 in the 247Sports Composite for the high school class of 2025.

St. John’s, meanwhile, is coming off its best season in more than 30 years. The Red Storm finished 31-5 and won the Big East regular season and tournament titles before losing to Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Zuby Ejiofor, a 6-foot-9 center who averaged 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season, is the only starter returning, but St. John’s signed one of the nation’s top transfer classes. The Red Storm added guards Ian Jackson (North Carolina), Joson Sanon (Arizona State), Dylan Darling (Idaho State) and Oziyah Sellers (Stanford) and forwards Bryce Hopkins (Providence) and Dillon Mitchell (Cincinnati).

Three conferences each have six programs in the top 25: the Big Ten (Purdue, No. 7 Michigan, No. 12 UCLA, No. 17 Illinois, No. 22 Michigan State and No. 24 Wisconsin), Big 12 (Houston, No. 8 BYU, No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 13 Arizona, No. 16 Iowa State and No. 19 Kansas) and SEC (Florida, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 14 Arkansas, No. 15 Alabama, No. 18 Tennessee and No. 20 Auburn).

The Big East (UConn, St. John’s and No. 23 Creighton) and Atlantic Coast Conference (No. 6 Duke, No. 11 Louisville and No. 25 North Carolina) have three programs apiece, while No. 21 Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference is the only ranked program outside of the six major conferences.

Gonzaga is ranked in the preseason AP poll for the 16th consecutive season. The only schools with longer streaks in the preseason AP poll are Duke (30 consecutive years), Kansas (20), North Carolina (20) and Kentucky (17).