AP men’s basketball Top 25: Houston moves ahead of Purdue for No. 1 spot

The second week of the men’s college basketball season begins with a second No. 1 team in the country.

Houston (2-0) narrowly moved ahead of Purdue (2-0) in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday, taking over the top spot after season-opening victories over Lehigh and Towson. The Boilermakers, picked as preseason No. 1 in mid-October, still received 36 of 61 first-place votes. But Houston, which had 18 first-place votes, had 1,462 voting points overall to Purdue’s 1,459. (Each team gets 25 points for a first-place vote, 24 for second, and so on.)

Purdue opened its season with wins over Evansville and Oakland.

It’s the first time since March 11, 2024, that Houston is ranked No. 1. The Cougars have been ranked first at some point in four of the last five seasons. They play their first matchup against a ranked team on Sunday against No. 22 Auburn in Birmingham, Ala.

Connecticut (2-0), Duke (2-0) and Arizona (2-0) rounded out the top five. Arizona climbed eight spots — the most of any team — after its season-opening win over defending champion Florida. The Gators (1-1), No. 3 in the preseason, dropped to 10th.

Alabama (2-0) moved from 15th to eighth and North Carolina (2-0) jumped from 25th to 18th after wins over St. John’s and Kansas, respectively. No team fell out of the poll this week.

Here’s the full poll, along with the ballot of The Athletic’s C.J. Moore:

Others receiving votes: NC State (87), San Diego State (67), Indiana (45), Oregon (43), Vanderbilt (37), Ohio State (17), Baylor (14), USC (12), Kansas State (5), Missouri (4), Mississippi (4), Mississippi State (3), Georgia (2), Stanford (1), Oklahoma State (1), Texas (1), Georgetown (1), Utah State (1), Iowa (1), Virginia Tech (1).

Why Michigan remains my No. 1

I had Michigan at No. 1 in my final preseason poll and had no reason to change this week. The Wolverines were dominant in a 121-78 win over Oakland, an opponent that then went to Purdue and was tied at half and lost by just 10. Michigan’s offense is the most efficient in the country through the first week. The opponent, and playing only one game, help the cause there, but putting up 69 in a half was one of the more impressive things I saw over the first week.

Michigan will see some high-major competition this week with a game against Wake Forest in Detroit and a road game at TCU.

Is Alabama a top-10 team?

Alabama made the biggest jump this week on my ballot — from No. 18 to No. 6 — with arguably the most impressive win of Week 1, traveling to Madison Square Garden to beat St. John’s, 103-96. I had concerns about Alabama’s front line, but Taylor Bol Bowen looks to be a great fit. Depth at center could be iffy, but that’s a nitpick.

What I love about Bama: the guards. Nate Oats has one of the best combinations of speed and shooting in the country on the perimeter. Labaron Philon Jr. is going to have no issue taking over the starring role from Mark Sears. Alabama has three players (Philon, Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell Jr.) who could go for 30 on any night. I wrote more about Alabama in my Top 25, which included this nugget: Alabama became just the second team to score 100 points in regulation against a Rick Pitino defense over the last 26 seasons. You’re not supposed to be able to score that easily against a Pitino defense.

We’ll have a clearer picture of just how good Alabama is over the next few weeks than just about anyone in college hoops, because bless Oats, here are Bama’s next three: Purdue, Illinois and Gonzaga.

Why I’m lower on Purdue and Duke

For the Boilermakers, I worry about their athleticism in the frontcourt. It showed itself in the Kentucky exhibition game. Hopefully, we’ll get to see Purdue at full strength with Trey Kaufman-Renn back against Alabama on Thursday. The Crimson Tide will be a good test for Purdue’s perimeter defense. Alabama cannot overwhelm with big bodies up front like Kentucky can, but its speed from the one through four spots is elite.

With Duke, I’m worried about guard play. Cameron Boozer has been as good as advertised. Isaiah Evans had a great game in the opener against Texas as the secondary scorer, but when he’s not making shots and opponents sell out to take away Boozer — Texas was able to do so in the first half of the opener — where does Duke turn? Caleb Foster has been efficient but is averaging just 8 points through two games. Maybe Cayden Boozer will be the answer.

I’m going off the eye test right now, which is difficult with such a small sample size, but I’d rather have the rosters of the teams in front of Duke. By the new year, after Duke plays Kansas, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan State and Texas Tech, I might be eating my words.