College basketball power rankings: Purdue makes its case for No. 1 ahead of Arizona, Duke
Purdue is No. 1 with a bullet -- but early-season wins have Arizona, Illinois, Duke and Louisville in great spots
By
Kyle Boone
•
4 min read
AP voters on Monday bumped preseason No. 1 Purdue down one spot to No. 2 in the first in-season rankings update -- despite it opening the season 2-0 with double-digit wins, and doing so without star Trey Kaufman-Renn -- and were instantly made to look fools for it. I believe they call that karma.
The Boilermakers on Thursday stuffed that decision -- and No. 8 Alabama -- into a locker on Thursday night with a resounding road win, showcasing why at full strength they are the team to beat in college basketball until further notice. The result was a reminder of not just the greatness of Purdue coach Matt Painter but also of the team he has assembled in West Lafayette.
The reward was the biggest victory for any team in the young season -- and a spot at No. 1 in the debut edition of the 2025-26 CBS Sports men's college basketball power rankings.
Let's dive in.
College Basketball Power Rankings
| 1 |  |
| The No. 1 offense in adjusted efficiency metrics at KenPom belongs to the Purdue Boilermakers. They looked good in their first two outings vs. Evansville and Oakland without Trey Kaufman-Renn -- but looked unstoppable with him back in the lineup Thursday. | |
| 2 |  |
| Arizona owns arguably the second-best win by any team so far this season (a 93-87 neutral site win over Florida) and earns the No. 2 spot in the power rankings as a result. The Wildcats are 3-0 ahead of a huge Friday night tilt vs. UCLA. | |
| 3 |  |
| Duke is one of three teams this season that is top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency metrics at KenPom. It is 3-0 with a scoring margin of 37 points in those games highlighted by a 15-point win last week over Texas. | |
| 4 |  |
| A completely revamped roster in Champaign so far looks sensational for coach Brad Underwood. The Illini downed Texas Tech at home Tuesday, 81-77, to improve to 3-0 on the season. | |
| 5 |  |
| Louisville's 96-88 win over Kentucky this week was exactly the type of performance that can catapult a team ranked outside the top 10 into the top five of the power rankings. This ranking is deserved for the Cardinals. Pat Kelsey can capital c Coach -- and Mikel Brown Jr. looks sensational. | |
| 6 |  |
| If you've not yet noticed what Gonzaga is doing this season then you'll notice soon enough. Mark Few's team dismantled -- dismantled! -- really talented OU and Creighton teams in the last week by 15 and 27 points, respectively. It's early, but it looks like this is the best Bulldogs team coach Mark Few has had since 2020-21 -- when they went 31-1. | |
| 7 |  |
| Michigan State coach Tom Izzo didn't seem too thrilled Thursday despite a 19-point home win over San Jose State -- but as an outside observer I'm comfortable calling the Spartans a top-10 team right now. A 69-66 win over Arkansas last Saturday has them ahead of schedule for a team that is young and inexperienced at multiple positions. | |
| 8 |  |
| UNC delivered the first official whoa outcome of the season last Friday: an 87-74 win over Kansas. It was a coming-out party for freshman Caleb Wilson, and perhaps also for the Tar Heels. Early signs suggest they are better than anticipated. | |
| 9 |  |
| If I were submitting an AP ballot I'd put Houston at No. 2. But this is not an AP ballot -- this is the power rankings. And wins over Lehigh, Towson and Oakland, even as dominant as they were, don't move the needle too much in this space. | |
| 10 |  |
| The most anticipated season in BYU history is off to a hot start -- with three wins in three outings over Villanova, Holy Cross and Delaware. It faces its biggest test to date -- and maybe its biggest test of the season -- on Saturday as it faces UConn in Boston. | |
| 11 |  |
| Like Houston above, I'd also rank UConn much higher if this were an AP ballot. But the Huskies have yet to face a team ranked higher than 198th in KenPom. Show me something against a real team then we can talk about a promotion up the ranks. Those opportunities will come this week with BYU and Arizona on the schedule in the next two games. | |
| 12 |  |
| First-year coach Darian DeVries already looks ready to have the Hoosiers relevant again. That's my knee-jerk reaction through three games, where the Hoosiers have won by an average margin of 33.7 points -- including a 100-77 victory over Marquette. | |
| 13 |  |
| A narrow loss to Illinois in a true road game Tuesday isn't going to scare me off on my priors for Texas Tech. JT Toppin looks like he's added to his arsenal somehow and the pieces around him in Lubbock look sensational. | |
| 14 |  |
| A 103-96 road win at St. John's last week lost a bit of its luster after Alabama fell Thursday at home to Purdue. But that win over the Red Storm will inarguably age well for the Tide, and they are very much built in a way to win big -- again -- this season. | |
| 15 |  |
| Despite a road loss to rival Louisville, Kentucky entered Friday ranked sixth -- three spots ahead of the Cardinals -- in KenPom's net rating metrics. I disagree with that! But, nonetheless, this Wildcats team looks much-improved defensively and will remain a wagon on offense like it was last season. | |
| 16 |  |
| Iowa State edges out Florida and Michigan for the 16th and final spot in this week's power rankings. It is 3-0 on the season with the No. 3 defense in college basketball and defeated Mississippi State by 16 points on a neutral site Monday. The Tamin Lipsey + Joshua Jefferson combo is going to feed families this season. | |
