The primary regular-season AP Prime 25 is usually an overhaul from the preseason ballot as voters get a greater sense of how good groups may really be.
This season definitely is not any completely different.
Houston was No. 1 within the ballot launched Monday, swapping spots with Purdue by incomes three extra factors total. The Cougars acquired 18 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel, and Purdue had 36, with 4 different groups additionally getting at the least one.
UConn, Duke and Arizona spherical out the highest 5 in a chaotic ballot that noticed solely 4 groups maintain their positions from the preseason ballot, but nobody moved in or out of the ballot.
Houston, which misplaced to Florida in final spring’s nationwide championship recreation, is No. 1 for the primary time since a three-week stint in 2024.
The Boilermakers have been ranked No. 1 within the preseason ballot for the primary time in program historical past and opened the season with a pair of wins. Purdue had a tough time shaking Oakland in an 87-77 win Friday, although, and a few Prime 25 voters dropped the Boilermakers out of the highest 5 on their ballots.
“Yeah, I imply, we simply beat Oakland by 10 factors. Credit score to them, they performed a fantastic recreation,” Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer stated. “But when we’re speculated to be the No. 1 group within the nation, we have got to be higher than that, and it begins on the defensive finish.”
Houston had no hassle in its first two video games, blowing out Lehigh and Towson by a median of 18 factors.
Rising and falling
Arizona moved up eight locations from No. 13 after a powerful win over reigning champion and then-No. 3 Florida in Las Vegas. No. 8 Alabama moved up seven locations following Saturday’s 103-96 win over then-No. 5 St. John’s at Madison Sq. Backyard.
No. 18 North Carolina additionally climbed seven spots after beating then-No. 19 Kansas, and No. 17 Michigan State gained 5 locations with its 69-66 win over then-No. 14 Arkansas.
The losses by Florida, St. John’s and Kansas despatched all three tumbling. The Gators misplaced seven locations (to No. 10), the Crimson Storm dropped eight (No. 13) and the Jayhawks fell six (No. 25).
Convention watch
The Southeastern Convention, Massive Ten and Massive 12 every had six ranked groups to make up 72% of the sphere. The Atlantic Coast Convention and Massive East have been subsequent with three every, whereas the West Coast Convention had one with No. 19 Gonzaga. The Massive 12 and SEC every have three top-10 groups.
Watch listing
Indiana coach Darian DeVries has a historical past of manufacturing fast turnarounds at earlier stops and is hoping to tug one other one off in his first season in Bloomington. The Hoosiers regarded good within the first week of the season, blowing out Alabama A&M and Marquette to inch nearer to being ranked. Indiana subsequent has two video games that will not precisely transfer the needle — towards Milwaukee and Incarnate Phrase — however may discover itself ranked if the early-season jumbling continues.