For the first time, Purdue University ranked first in the Associated Press Men's College Basketball poll.
In the opinion poll released on Monday, boiler manufacturers consistently ranked first, up from second place last week. The defending national champion Baylor rose to second place, and Duke University, UCLA and Gonzaga University entered the top five.
Purdue University (8-0, 1-0 top ten) has been ranked second for several consecutive seasons under the leadership of Gene Keady since the 1986-88 season, and tied the previous high last week, starting from a 61 Won the first place with 9 votes in the media group.
The Boilermakers defeated Florida State University last week and defeated Iowa State 77-70 on Friday to start the top ten game. Duke University, which was previously ranked number one, lost to the 21st unranked Ohio State. After the college team, they slipped to the top of the list. Up to this week, Purdue University was ranked second in the AP poll - 379 weeks - for a school that never ranked first (Maryland, 434 weeks).
"They deserve to be number one," Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey said after losing to Purdue University. "They can be hurt in many ways. They have depth, experience and scale. This will be a hard team to beat."
During the 2020-21 season when the pandemic changed, Purdue missed the NCAA tournament but returned to the top eight scorers, including all-league forward Trevian Williams. The Boilermakers can challenge the team in a variety of ways, from sophomore guard Jayden Ivey's dribble offense to low post, to the 7-foot-4 sophomore Zach Edey.
Purdue averaged 25.6 points per game, the closest being 7 points against Iowa.
"You want to enter a close match and win the game," Purdue University coach Matt Pant said. "It can really help you through the season."
Gonzaga participates in one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the country every season, and this year is no exception. Zags (7-2) usually win the big decisive battle at the beginning of the season, but this year they tried to integrate several new players not so frequently.
In the early wins over Texas and UCLA, Gonzaga looked unstoppable. Zags did not dominate the last two games against the top 25 AP teams. They lost to Duke in Las Vegas on November 26, and lost to No. 16 in Seattle on Saturday. Alabama.
"I just think we have to have more sense of urgency," said Gonzaga Drutim. "We just need to fix it. But we have a lot of time to fix it. We will be fine."
He is right. Most teams hope to "drop" to No. 5 in the AP Top 25.
Alabama (7-1) saw the biggest gain in this week's poll, rising seven places after defeating Gonzaga. Southern California followed closely, rising 4 places to 16th after defeating Utah and Washington State last week.
Brigham Young University suffered the most. After losing to Utah State University in overtime and defeating Missouri State University 74-68, its ranking dropped 12 places to 24th. After losing to Oklahoma by 7 points, Florida lost 6th to 20th.
Ohio State University returned to the top 25 after defeating Duke University. After losing to Xavier, the Buckeyes withdrew from the November 22 poll.
Ranked 25th, Louisiana State University has been ranked for the first time in nearly two years after expanding its unbeaten start to eight games in its victory over Ohio State last week.
Memphis dropped out of the 18th poll because they lost to Georgia and Miss Ole, extending their losing streak to three games.
Michigan State fell from 24th after scoring 51 points in a 21-point loss to North Carolina. The Wolverines have reached fourth place this season.
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