Purdue Secures No. 1 Spot After Maui Invitational Victory Over Kansas

We’re three weeks into the season, and it’s time for a new No. 1 in college basketball.

After a packed Thanksgiving week, and a very impressive outing in Honolulu, Purdue overtook Kansas to grab the top spot in the country this week.

Here’s everything you missed in week three of the season, and the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.

Purdue rolls through Maui

Purdue’s comeback tour is off to the perfect start.

The last week and picked up three very solid resume wins in the process. After beating Gonzaga and Tennessee, they knocked off Marquette in the championship game to claim the title and stay undefeated on the year. Reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey dropped 28 points and had 15 rebounds against the Golden Eagles, who seemed good enough themselves to make a run at the top spot in Hawaii, too.

As a result, the Boilermakers were the clear No. 1 team in the country this week — as Marquette beat previous top-ranked Kansas in the semifinals. It’s the third time in three seasons that Purdue has been No. 1 in the AP Poll, which makes it the first Big Ten team in history to accomplish that feat.

Marquette, which was No. 4 last week, move up to No. 3 after its great run in Hawaii. The Golden Eagles flew past Kansas in their semifinal game with ease, too, and only lost to Purdue by three points. Oso Ighodaro outplayed Hunter Dickinson easily inside, and Tyler Kolkek put up 22 in the championship game while shooting better than 57% from the field. They’ll be a force in the Big East, and already seem a step ahead of UConn.

Tennessee fell three spots to No. 10. Gonzaga stayed put at No. 11.

It’s easy to understand why some might still doubt Purdue, especially after last year’s first round loss in the NCAA tournament. And the last two times they reached No. 1, they lost to Rutgers just days later. But the Boilermakers proved in Hawaii that they’re as good as anybody in the country and are ready to move past that historic blunder. Now they’ve got the ranking to go with it.

Arizona up to No. 2, UConn remains undefeated

Michigan State has had its issues this season already, including a wild loss to James Madison.

Arizona, however, picked up another solid win over the Spartans on Thanksgiving to get to 6-0 on the year. The Wildcats beat Michigan State in Southern California last week behind 17 points from Caleb Love in what was their second win over a ranked opponent through six games after a big win over Duke. Based on how things played out in Hawaii, it was enough to move them to No. 2 this week in the poll.

Michigan State, now with three losses, fell out of the poll completely.

UConn is also 6-0 after picking up a pair of big wins in its tournament in New York last week. The Huskies beat Indiana and Texas at Madison Square Garden, and then closed out the week with a 30-point win over Manhattan in what was their record-tying 23rd straight nonconference win. That moved the Huskies up a spot to No. 4.

While UConn’s schedule hasn’t been anywhere near as hard as other top teams in the country, it’s about to be. The Huskies will take on No. 5 Kansas later this week in what will be a great test to see where they stack up. They’ll have No. 17 North Carolina and No. 11 Gonzaga just days later, too.

Games to watch this week

Tuesday, Nov. 28

No. 8 Miami at No. 12 Kentucky | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN

Wednesday, Nov. 29

No. 10 Tennessee at No. 17 North Carolina | 7:15 p.m. ET | ESPN

No. 14 Texas A&M at Virginia | 7:15 p.m. ET | ESPNU

No. 7 Duke at Arkansas | 9:15 p.m. ET | ESPN

Friday, Dec. 1

No. 4 UConn at No. 5 Kansas | 9 p.m. ET | ESPN2

Saturday, Dec. 2

USC at No. 11 Gonzaga | 10 p.m. ET | ESPN *

AP Top 25

The full AP Top 25 poll from Monday, November 27, 2023

1. Purdue (6-0)

2. Arizona (6-0)

3. Marquette (5-1)

4. UConn (6-0)

5. Kansas (5-1)

6. Houston (7-0)

7. Duke (5-1)

8. Miami (5-0)

9. Baylor (6-0)

10. Tennessee (4-2)

11. Gonzaga (4-1)

12. Kentucky (5-1)

13. FAU (5-1)

14. Texas A&M (6-1)

15. Creighton (5-1)

16. Texas (5-1)

17. North Carolina (5-1)

18. Villanova (6-1)

19. BYU (6-0)

20. Colorado State (6-0)

21. Mississippi State (6-0)

22. James Madison (6-0)

23. Alabama (5-1)

24. Illinois (5-1)

25. Oklahoma (6-0)

Others Receiving Votes: Memphis 108, San Diego State 102, Colorado 70, Ohio St. 67, TCU 66, Michigan State 57, Auburn 46, UCLA 24, Princeton 14, Arkansas 10, Florida St. 8, Iowa State 8, USC 7, Liberty 7, Nevada 6, Clemson 6, Virginia 6, Mississippi 5, Nebraska 4, South Carolina 2, Cincinnati 2, Kansas State 1, Bradley 1