1. Purdue (3-0)
Many heads were scratched in West Lafayette last week, first when the Boilermakers had a closer than expected call against Oakland, and then a few days later when Purdue was dropped from the top spot in the national polls. Sure, the Boilermakers didn’t put that program away as expected, but this elite crew were playing without star forward Trey Kaufman-Renn and you could certainly excuse a performance that wasn’t quite 100%.
Kaufman-Renn was back this week and you could tell how important he is to this Purdue team. On Thursday night, the Boilermakers went to Tuscaloosa and knocked off a Top 10 program, winning 87-80 over Alabama. Kaufman-Renn was essential with 19 points and 15 rebounds while preseason All-American was the true star of the show, putting up 29 points and 7 rebounds in an electric performance on the road.
Whatever disdains anyone had for Purdue’s performances early was washed away with Thursday’s effort in Tuscaloosa. When healthy, as they were against the Crimson Tide, Purdue can beat anyone in any building and proved how strong this starting lineup truly can become. The Boilermakers battle Akron on Sunday night before heading to the Bahamas for an event with matchups against Memphis and potentially Texas Tech.
Two weeks is far from enough time to clearly say which teams are the best in the nation, but we’ve judged from what we can to determine this Top 25. Have we picked the right teams for this early ranking? Was someone overrated or forgotten among our list?