College basketball rankings: Purdue nearly takes the lead, but holds its ground against Iowa for #1

The line quickly jumps to Purdue -15 later Iowa star Keegan Murray were ruled out of the Big Ten opener for both due to ankle injuries, making it more likely than before that the Dolls would lift the score to 8-0 and set themselves up for a second day. Two histories. So it’s a bit of a surprise that Iowa nearly erased its 19-point deficit late Friday and trailed only 72-70 with less than three minutes left in the Mackey Arena.

Is Purdue really about to blow this up?

Turns out, no.

Iowa never scored again, Purdue did, and the team eventually got away with a 77-70 victory. As a result, Purdue will come in at No. 1 in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in school history.

“It’s been great for our fans and players,” Purdue coach Matt Painter told Big Ten Network’s Andy Katz in a post-match interview. “It’s a really neat thing if it happens; it looks like it will. I’m just happy for our fans and happy for our players.”

Considering that Purdue has consistently had a really good men’s basketball program over the decades and made multiple Finals, it’s a myth that the team’s team has never been #1 in our polls. AP – but it’s true. However, that will change in two days, thanks to Purdue having another perfect week while this week’s No. Duke, suffered their first loss of the season, losing 71-66 first Ohio State in which the Blue Devils lead by 15 points.

Purdue is led by a pair of sophomores who have taken the leap this season and emerged as legitimate NBA prospects – namely Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey. Both have gone from good to great. Ivey is averaging 15.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 27.5 minutes per game. Edey is averaging 15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 18.5 minutes per game. They are arguably the best inside and outside duo in college basketball and are clearly capable of leading Purdue in April to become the school’s first team. NCAA Tournament championship.

The London team remains number 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 daily rankings and a college basketball team updated Saturday morning. Based on how they’ve performed so far this season, KenPom now predicts them to be the favorites in every remaining game of the regular season.

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