Florida remains No. 1 in the latest Coaches Poll, and the top of the rankings is setting up a loaded Tuesday night in the Champions Classic.
The headline matchup is No. 2 Duke against No.
5 Michigan State, a top-five showdown that now carries even more weight after Monday’s poll release. The nightcap brings No.
14 Kansas and Kentucky together, with the Wildcats sitting just outside the top 25 after opening the season ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll.
Kentucky was the first team left out this week, but the bigger shakeup came from Purdue’s exit. Matt Painter’s team had won more games than any Big Ten program since 2021, but that run doesn’t mean much after a rough opening week.
Purdue is 0-2 for the first time since 1976-77, and the loss to Gonzaga in the opener was followed by a double-overtime home defeat to Valparaiso. That was enough to knock the Boilermakers out of the Coaches Poll for the first time since the preseason poll before the 2022-23 season.
Florida held the top spot with 786 points, just ahead of Duke’s 774. Illinois stayed at No. 3, while UConn climbed from No. 5 to No. 4 and Michigan State moved up one spot to No. 5.
Virginia made the biggest leap among the top 10, rising from No. 10 to No. 6 after a 3-0 start. Texas, Houston and Tennessee stayed put in the next three spots, and Louisville moved up from No. 11 to No. 10.
Arizona took the biggest tumble among the ranked teams, falling from No. 4 to No. 11 after a 1-1 start. Kansas also climbed, moving from No. 18 to No. 14, while UCLA entered the poll at No. 15 and Nebraska joined at No. 24.
The full top 25 after the first week of the 2026-27 season: Florida, Duke, Illinois, UConn, Michigan State, Virginia, Texas, Houston, Tennessee, Louisville, Arizona, Gonzaga, St. John’s, Kansas, UCLA, Alabama, Texas Tech, Miami, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Michigan, USC, Iowa State, Nebraska and BYU.
Among the teams receiving votes but not in the top 25 were Kentucky with 101, Memphis with 34, Saint Louis with 23, Purdue and Indiana with 12 each, Texas A&M with 11, Baylor with 9, North Carolina and Marquette with 6 each, West Virginia with 5, Missouri with 4, LSU with 3, and Wisconsin, Villanova and Nevada with 1 apiece.
In Other News...
Purdue Already Faces An Early Test It Cant Afford To Flunk
Purdue heads into its meeting with Illinois State already trying to steady a shaky start, and the early-season concerns are easy to spot. The Boilermakers have not looked sharp from the perimeter, and the defense has had trouble giving the offense enough margin for error, which makes this next game feel more like a course correction than a routine nonconference date.
Illinois State brings a very different profile, with a dangerous outside attack that can punish any lapse in closeouts or ball pressure. For Purdue, the path forward runs through cleaner perimeter shooting, more turnovers forced on defense and a better use of Daniel Jacobsens size inside, because this is the kind of matchup that can either help the Boilermakers settle in or deepen the unease around an early slide. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Heads Into Iowa Facing A Harsh Reality Check
Purdue heads to Iowa City on Saturday night for a difficult Big Ten road test, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET against an AP No. 16 Hawkeyes team that has put itself in the College Football Playoff conversation with a 7-2 record. For the Boilermakers, it is the kind of matchup that can quickly expose where things stand, especially after a rough stretch that has left the program searching for answers on both sides of the ball.
The timing makes the trip even more intriguing, because Purdue is trying to steady itself after a recent change on the coaching staff and now walks into one of the conferences more demanding environments as a heavy underdog. Iowa has the clearer path and the stronger resume, while Purdue is left with the more immediate task of showing it can compete cleanly and keep the game from getting away early. [Read more 🡒]
Purdues 0-2 Start Just Exposed A Bigger Problem
Purdues season has opened with an uncomfortable reminder that even a program built on consistency can feel the loss of elite talent right away. After a decade of regular NCAA Tournament trips and the glow of a 2024 national title, the Boilermakers have stumbled out of the gate with a narrow loss to Gonzaga and an overtime defeat at home against Valparaiso, leaving the early conversation less about rankings and more about how quickly this roster can find its footing.
The frontcourt has at least offered a bright spot, with Daniel Jacobsen giving Purdue a reliable interior presence and some much-needed production. The bigger concern is whether the backcourt can generate enough scoring and control to keep the Boilermakers looking like a top-25 team, because without a steadier guard play the margin for error shrinks fast and the path back to being a true NCAA Tournament contender gets a lot tougher. [Read more 🡒]