1. Purdue Boilermakers
The Big Ten runs through West Lafayette as the Boilermakers will enter the 2025-26 season as not only the Big Ten favorites, but perhaps the early national title favorites, too. The Boilermakers are a consensus preseason No. 1 team in the country.
Purdue returns nearly 70% of its minutes off a team that reached the Sweet 16 last season. Braden Smith is among the top players in college basketball. Trey Kauffman-Renn took a monster junior year jump, averaging 20.1 PPG. Fletcher Loyer shot an impressive 44.4% from three. South Dakota State transfer Oscar Cluff joins the fold after averaging 17.6 PPG and 12.3 RPG last season. He will be joined alongside 7-foot-4 big Daniel Jacobsenwho played only six games last season before suffering a season-ending injury.
The Boilermakers are loaded top to bottom. If CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris break out, the Boilermakers can be even more dangerous in 2025-26.