NCAA Basketball: Ranking the final 10 unbeaten teams for 2022-23 season

2. Purdue

Three Big Ten teams were ranked before the season began and Purdue was not one of them. Now sitting pretty at 8-0, Matt Painter’s squad has perhaps the nation’s most impressive resume, not only sitting perfect with those eight season-opening wins but doing it against some harsh competition.

The eye-openers for the Boilermakers are the games they won in Portland, knocking off West Virginia, Gonzaga, and Duke in order, and all by double-digits. Their offense has carried them to some explosive wins, including a recent 19-point win over Minnesota to begin Big Ten play. Throw in a road win at Florida State and a home win against Marquette and there’s been a lot of solid programs cast aside by Purdue already this season.

The big reason (literally) for Purdue’s early success has been Zach Edey, who’s averaging a mind-boggling 23.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game and would be the national player of the year if the vote was cast today. Additionally, freshman guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith have been even better than advertised. After losing a few pieces to graduation and transfer, Purdue has wildly exceeded expectations, with other names like Brandon Newman and Caleb Furst playing solid ball to start the year.

There are clearly challenges ahead for Purdue, but it’s mostly smooth sailing until conference play gets going after New Year’s. It’s very possible that the Boilermakers are still unbeaten when they travel to Ohio State on January 5th, one of their early and difficult road ventures in Big Ten play. There’s no telling what this Purdue team can accomplish with Edey and company playing this way, but we’re certainly not underrating this squad any longer.