We are one week further in the men’s college basketball season and Purdue remains ranked the same as it was in both the pre-season AP Poll and last week’s poll: #1. The Boilermakers used a 2-0 performance in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship against Memphis and #15 Texas Tech to remain on top. The victory against Texas Tech was especially convincing as Purdue went on a 20-0 run late in the first half and would eventually beat the Red Raiders by 30.
Purdue did
need to defend the top spot in the poll against a surging Arizona team that went into Storrs and knocked off #3 UConn on its home floor last week. This is the second victory over a top-3 team for the Wildcats this season as they also beat #3 Florida in Las Vegas to open the season. The Wildcats did receive 11 of the 61 first-place votes (Purdue received 46 and Houston received the other 4).
Rounding out the rest of the top 5 are Houston at #3, Duke at #4, and UConn at #5. Purdue will also take on several more ranked teams and teams receiving votes throughout the season. This includes:
#7 Michigan (Home)
#11 Michigan State (Home)
#13 Illinois (Home)
#15 Iowa State (Home)
#18 UCLA (Away)
#21 Auburn (Neutral – Indy Classic)
#25 Indiana (Home & Away)
RV {26} Wisconsin (Home & Away)
RV {28} Oregon (Home)
RV {31} Nebraska (Away)
RV {32} Ohio State (Away)
RV {36} USC (Away)
RV {38} Iowa (Home & Away)
Purdue has already beaten current #8 Alabama (the Crimson Tide were also #8 at the time) on their home floor and the aforementioned current #20 Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Bahamas. As it stands, the next ranked matchup for Purdue will be in Mackey Arena on Saturday, December 6th against the Iowa State Cyclones.
