Purdue jumped to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll Monday after winning the Maui Invitational last week, while Kansas fell to No. 5 after losing to Marquette in the semifinals of the Thanksgiving week tournament. Here’s what you need to know:
- The Boilermakers (6-0) return to No. 1 after spending seven weeks — over two different stints — at the top of the AP poll last season.
- They defeated three of the nation’s top 11 teams — Gonzaga, Tennessee and Marquette — to win it all in Maui and earn 60 of 63 first-place votes this week.
- Kansas (5-1) had been No. 1 since the preseason but couldn’t keep the top spot after suffering its first loss of the season in Maui. The Jayhawks bounced back by beating Tennessee in their next game.
- Arizona (No. 2), Marquette (No. 3) and UConn (No. 4) each moved up one spot from the previous week’s poll.
Full AP Top 25 After Week 3
- Purdue
- Arizona
- Marquette
- UConn
- Kansas
- Houston
- Duke
- Miami
- Baylor
- Tennessee
- Gonzaga
- Kentucky
- Florida Atlantic
- Texas A&M
- Creighton
- Texas
- North Carolina
- Villanova
- BYU
- Colorado State
- Mississippi State
- James Madison
- Alabama
- Illinois
- Oklahoma
Does Purdue deserve it?
There’s no arguing with Purdue at No. 1. But there’s also no arguing with a few teams at No. 1 at this point of the season since it’s early days and there are so few definitive reference points. But the Boilermakers are unscathed against the nation’s ninth-toughest schedule so far, per KenPom.com, with top-5 efficiency ratings on both the offensive and defensive end. We’ll see how long Purdue stays there with a challenging road game at Northwestern on Friday and a trip to Toronto to face Alabama in a couple of weeks.
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But as it happens, if everyone holds serve, we could have Purdue and Arizona in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown on Dec. 16 in Indianapolis. — Brian Hamilton, college basketball senior writer
Are voters underselling anyone?
It’s not exactly insulting to put Houston at No. 6, but it’s certainly plausible to believe Kelvin Sampson’s club should be ahead of one-loss Marquette and Kansas at this point. The Cougars are No. 6 in this week’s poll but the metrics love them more: KenPom and Evan Miyakawa both have them at No. 1 and Bart Torvik has them at No. 2, fractionally behind Purdue.
When your best wins are against Utah and Dayton, it’s possible to be overshadowed by those teams who participated in glitzier, multi-team events. Houston’s road test at Xavier on Friday will be an opportunity for another statement. — Hamilton
Well, Villanova is at least headed in that general direction. Since that disquieting loss at Penn on Nov. 13, the Wildcats have stacked wins against three power-conference teams and another just-about-power-conference crew: Maryland, Texas Tech, North Carolina and Memphis, in order. It is a much-needed and perfectly timed November jolt. To date, they’re about four points per 100 possessions better on both ends than they were in 2022-23.
And for what it’s worth, Kyle Neptune’s team is better than its AP rankings according to the computers: This is a top 10 group per both Evan Miyakawa (No. 10) and Bart Torvik (No. 8). — Hamilton
Required reading
(Photo: Steven Erler / USA Today)
