Purdue, which opened the year at the top of the rankings, is back in the top five of this week’s Coaches Poll following a statement win against Auburn. The Boilermakers landed at No. 5, behind No. 3 Iowa State and No. 4 UConn, to round out the three programs that ascended in the wake of Duke’s first loss of the 2025-26 season.
The Boilermakers improved to 11-1 with their 88-60 triumph over Auburn. That marked their third consecutive 20-plus point victory since their Dec. 6 loss to Iowa State that saw them drop out of their preseason No. 1 spot.
Duke, meanwhile, fell to No. 6 after suffering an 82-81 upset loss at the hands of No. 16 Texas Tech. Red Raider guard Christian Anderson torched the Blue Devils with 27 points and Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year JT Toppin logged a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds to hand Texas Tech its biggest win of the year.
The Red Raiders are now 1-3 against currently ranked opponents. The Duke win, alone, was enough to help them jump three spots from No. 19.
Here is the full Dec. 22 Coaches Poll after the seventh week of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
First-place votes in parenthesis
Coaches Poll
Michigan (20) Arizona (11) Iowa StateUConnPurdueDuke Gonzaga HoustonMichigan StateBYU Vanderbilt North CarolinaNebraska Louisville AlabamaTexas Tech KansasArkansasIllinoisTennesseeVirginia FloridaIowaGeorgia USC
Others receiving votes: St. John’s 32; Kentucky 32; Seton Hall 20; Utah State 15; Auburn 10; California 9; UCLA 8; Saint Louis 8; LSU 6; Yale 4; Oklahoma State 3; Saint Mary’s 1; Indiana 1; Clemson 1
