Purdue new No. 1, Baylor in at No. 2

Purdue is No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time.

The Boilermakers were a unanimous No. 1 in the poll released Monday to move up from No. 2 last week. Reigning national champion Baylor moved up to No. 2, with Duke, UCLA and Gonzaga rounding out the top five.

Purdue (8-0, 1-0 Big Ten) reached No. 2 in consecutive seasons under Gene Keady, a former University of Arkansas assistant coach, from 1986-88 and matched its previous high last week, receiving nine firstplace votes from a 61-person media panel.

The Boilermakers routed Florida State last week and opened Big Ten play with a 77-70 win over Iowa on Friday, sliding into the top spot after previous No. 1 Duke lost to an unranked Ohio State squad that is now No. 21. Until this week, Purdue had the second-most appearances in the AP poll — 379 weeks — for a school that had never been ranked No. 1 (Maryland, 434 weeks).

“They deserved to be No. 1,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “They can hurt in so many ways. They have depth, experience and size. It’s going to be a hard team to beat.”

Purdue was knocked out in the first round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, but returned its top eight scorers, including all-conference forward Trevion Williams. The Boilermakers can challenge teams in variety of ways, from sophomore guard Jayden Ivey attacking off the dribble to dropping the ball in the post to 7-4 sophomore Zach Edey.

Purdue is winning by an average of 25.6 points per game, the closest being the seven-point win over Iowa.

“You want to get in close games and win them,” Purdue Coach Matt Painter said. “It really helps you through the season.”

Alabama (7-1) had the biggest jump in this week’s poll, climbing seven spots after their win over Gonzaga.

Brigham Young had the biggest drop, losing 12 spots to No. 24 after losing to Utah State in overtime and scraping past Missouri State 74-68.

WOMEN’S TOP 25

Lady Vols at No. 9

Tennessee is back in the top 10 of The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll for the first time in nearly three years.

The Lady Vols, who moved up two spots to No. 9 on Monday, haven’t been in the top 10 since Dec. 31, 2018.

For years, Tennessee set the standard in the poll, appearing in the first 10 spots for 212 consecutive weeks from March 10, 1997, to Dec. 18, 2008. Only UConn has a longer streak in the history of the poll; the third-ranked Huskies were ranked in the top 10 this week for the 312th consecutive time.

South Carolina remained a unanimous No. 1, garnering all 30 votes from a national media panel. N.C. State was second, breaking a tie with UConn. Stanford and Baylor rounded out the top five.

Duke, LSU and Colorado all returned to the rankings this week for the first time in a few years. The Blue Devils, who upset then-No. 9 Iowa in the Big Ten/ACC challenge, joined at No. 19.

The Blue Devils, who were last ranked on Nov. 1, 2018, are 8-0 this season. Duke played only four games last year before canceling the rest of the season because of covid-19 concerns.

LSU (6-1) entered at No. 24 after beating then-No. 14 Iowa State last week. It’s the first time the Tigers are in the Top 25 under new Coach Kim Mulkey, who won three NCAA titles at Baylor before returning home. The Tigers were last ranked on Dec. 2, 2019.

Colorado (8-0) is No. 25, its first poll appearance since Dec. 26, 2016.

Oregon dropped out of the poll, ending a streak of 80 consecutive weeks ranked dating to the preseason poll in 2017 that was the sixth-longest active streak. Florida State and Florida Gulf Coast also fell out.