Till this week, Purdue had the second-most appearances within the AP ballot — 379 weeks — for a college that had by no means been ranked No. 1 (Maryland, 434 weeks).
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue is No. 1 in The Related Press males’s school basketball ballot for the primary time.
The Boilermakers have been a unanimous No. 1 within the ballot launched Monday to maneuver up from No. 2 final week. Reigning nationwide champion Baylor moved as much as No. 2, with Duke, UCLA and Gonzaga rounding out the highest 5.
Purdue (8-0, 1-0 Large Ten) reached No. 2 in consecutive seasons underneath Gene Keady from 1986-88 and matched its earlier excessive final week, receiving 9 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel.
The Boilermakers routed Florida State final week and opened Large Ten play with a 77-70 win over Iowa on Friday, sliding into the highest spot after earlier No. 1 Duke misplaced to an unranked Ohio State squad that’s now No. 21. Till this week, Purdue had the second-most appearances within the AP ballot — 379 weeks — for a college that had by no means been ranked No. 1 (Maryland, 434 weeks).
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“They deserved to be No. 1,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery stated after the loss to Purdue. “They will damage in so some ways. They’ve depth, expertise and measurement. It’s going to be a tough group to beat.”
Purdue missed the NCAA Event throughout the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season, however returned its prime eight scorers, together with all-conference ahead Trevion Williams. The Boilermakers can problem groups in number of methods, from sophomore guard Jayden Ivey attacking off the dribble to dropping the ball within the put up to 7-foot-4 sophomore Zach Edey.
Purdue is successful by a median of 25.6 factors per recreation, the closest being the seven-point win over Iowa.
“You wish to get in shut video games and win them,” Purdue coach Matt Painter stated. “It actually helps you thru the season.”
FALLING ZAGS
Gonzaga performs one of many nation’s most tough nonconference schedules each season and this yr has been no completely different. The Zags (7-2) sometimes win the large early-season showdowns, however have not been in a position to do it with as a lot frequency this yr as they attempt to combine a number of new gamers.
Gonzaga appeared unstoppable in early wins over Texas and UCLA. The Zags weren’t so dominating their final two video games towards AP High 25 groups, dropping to Duke in Las Vegas on Nov. 26 and No. 16 Alabama in Seattle on Saturday.
“I simply suppose we’ve to have extra of a way of urgency,” Gonzaga large man Drew Timme stated. “We simply received to repair it. However we’ve received loads of time to repair it. We’ll be fantastic.”
He is proper. Most groups would like to “drop” to No. 5 within the AP High 25.
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RISING AND FALLING
Alabama (7-1) had the most important soar on this week’s ballot, climbing seven spots after their win over Gonzaga. Southern California was subsequent, shifting up 4 spots to No. 16 following wins over Utah and Washington State final week.
BYU had the most important drop, dropping 12 spots to No. 24 after dropping to Utah State in time beyond regulation and scraping previous Missouri State 74-68. Florida misplaced six spots to No. 20 following a seven-point loss to Oklahoma.
HELLO AND GOODBYE
Ohio State moved again into the High 25 after its win over Duke. The Buckeyes had dropped out of the Nov. 22 ballot following a loss to Xavier.
No. 25 LSU is ranked for the primary time in almost two years after stretching its undefeated begin to eight video games with a win over Ohio final week.
Memphis dropped out of the ballot from No. 18 after stretching its dropping streak to a few video games with losses to Georgia and Ole Miss.
Michigan fell out from No. 24 after scoring 51 factors in a 21-point loss to North Carolina. The Wolverines had been as excessive as No. 4 this season.
FULL POLL
CONFERENCE WATCH
SEC: 7 (Nos. 9, 10, 12, 13, 18, 20, 25)
Large Ten: 5 (Nos. 1, 17, 19, 21, 22)
Pac-12: 3 (Nos. 4, 11, 16)
Large East: 3 (Nos. 6, 15, 23)
American Athletic: 1 (No. 14)