Purdue had back-to-back wins over West Virginia, No. 15 Gonzaga and No. 12 Duke to win the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament early in the season.
Wins over Hofstra and Nebraska last week and a loss to Houston helped the Boilermakers top the AP Top 25 for the second season in a row.
In the Associated Press’ men’s college basketball poll released Monday, Purdue moved up three places and received 27 votes from a 62-member media panel. Second place Virginia got 19 votes to put him in first place, third place he got UConn 15 votes and sixth place Tennessee got him one vote.
Alabama and Houston rounded out the top five.
Purdue (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten) climbed steadily up the rankings after being unranked in preseason, winning the Legacy Tournament in Oregon to move into fifth place. The Boilermakers were fourth last week, but blew Hofstra to give Nebraska him a 65-62 overtime victory. Zach Eady.
“Can you find a way to win games even if you can’t shoot the ball well? We’ve done it,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter.
Boilermakers hope this No. 1 run will last longer than the last one. Purdue reached his No. 1 spot for the first time in school history last season in Week 4 and was quickly defeated by Rutgers.
rising tide
Alabama had to replace three of their top four scorers and started the season without a dynamic guard. javon quinary while he was recovering from knee surgery.
There’s no reason why Crimson Tide made the Top 5 for the second time in three seasons.
Alabama defeated leaders North Carolina in four overtime on November 27 to become the second team in 1990 Oklahoma. Saturday.
Crimson Tide moved up four spots in this week’s poll.
“It’s a big win for the program,” said Alabama coach Nate Oates. , I think it shows how this program at this point in time has allowed me to play against anyone in the country.”
rise and fall
No. 18 Ole Miss beat Minnesota to move up five places and record the biggest jump in the polls.
No. 19 Auburn had the biggest drop, losing eight spots after losing 82-73 to Memphis. No. 20 Maryland lost back-to-back to No. 22 Wisconsin and No. 6 Tennessee.
Seventh-place Texas lost the chance to move up to first place after losing to Illinois in overtime, instead dropping five places.
inside and outside
No. 22 Wisconsin entered the poll for the first time this season after victories over Maryland and Iowa. Virginia Tech, No. 24, is ranked for the first time since 2020-21 after wins over Dayton and Oklahoma State.
No. 25 Miami defeated Cornell and North Carolina State to enter the ranks for the first time since 2017-18.
Clayton dropped out of the poll after finishing seventh earlier this season. Last week’s 21st-placed Blue Jays lost four in a row.
Iowa State dropped out of 20th place with a lopsided loss to Iowa State, and San Diego State dropped out of 22nd place with a loss to St. Mary’s in Phoenix.
conference watch
The SEC and Big Ten Conference led the way with six ranked teams each. The ACC and Big 12 had four each, and the Pac-12 had three.
The Big East, American Athletic and West Coast Conferences each had one ranked team.
