Boilermakers stay No. 1 team in poll

Purdue center Zach Edey (15) moves to the basket between Michigan State center Mady Sissoko (22) and guard A.J. Hoggard (11)during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in West Lafayette, Ind., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. Purdue defeated Michigan State 77-61. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Purdue center Zach Edey (15) moves to the basket between Michigan State center Mady Sissoko (22) and guard A.J. Hoggard (11)during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in West Lafayette, Ind., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. Purdue defeated Michigan State 77-61. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Purdue became this season's first unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll Monday after wins over Michigan and Michigan State last week as chaos ensued behind the Boilermakers among other ranked teams.

More than half of Top 25 teams lost, including second-ranked Alabama, which was routed by Oklahoma in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. That allowed Purdue to grab the remaining No. 1 votes and tighten its grip atop the poll, while Tennessee jumped two spots to second and Houston held onto third in voting by 62 national media members.

The Boilermakers (21-1) have won eight straight since a one-point loss to Rutgers on Jan. 2.

"We're the No. 1 team in the country because of how unselfish we are as a team," Purdue guard David Jenkins Jr. said. "We had a lot of people doubting us in the beginning because, you know, we may not be the most talented team or whatever, but we're close on the court and off the court and it's really translating to how we're winning."

The Volunteers climbed to their highest perch since reaching No. 1 for four weeks during the 2018-19 season. They routed Georgia before becoming one of three SEC teams to beat Big 12 opponents on Saturday, knocking off No. 10 Texas 82-71 for their fifth consecutive win over a top-10 team.

Perhaps this is the year Rick Barnes finally gets the Vols through the Sweet 16 for the first time as their coach.

"We have a chance to be as good as we want to be," he said. "It's up to one thing: Are we tough enough to embrace the daily grind? And not worry about going to the Final Four or worry about going to the NCAA Tournament, but can we build a team that can be successful that time of year? It starts with truly embracing the grind."

The Crimson Tide dropped to fourth after the blowout loss to the Sooners, when Alabama fell behind by 17 at halftime in an eventual 93-69 defeat. The Tide edged fifth-ranked Arizona by just two points in this week's poll.

"It doesn't have any effect on SEC standings, which is the only good thing to come out of this," Alabama Coach Nate Oats said of the lopsided loss. "Hopefully we'll recover from a loss out of conference, but you know, it's not good."

Virginia was sixth and Kansas State, which rebounded from a narrow loss at No. 13 Iowa State by pummeling Florida on Saturday, fell two spots to seventh; the Wildcats face eighth-ranked Kansas in a top-10 showdown tonight.

UCLA dropped to ninth after losing to Southern California and Texas rounded out the top 10.

Baylor continued its climb from unranked to No. 11 following wins over the Jayhawks and Arkansas. The Bears were followed by Gonzaga, Iowa State, Marquette and league rival TCU -- the sixth Big 12 team in the top 15.

  photo  Purdue head coach Matt Painter gestures on the sideline during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Michigan State in West Lafayette, Ind., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. Purdue defeated Michigan State 77-61. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
 
 
  photo  Tennessee forward Olivier Nkamhoua (13) works for a shot as he's defended by Texas forward Dylan Disu (1) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
 
 
  photo  Tennessee coach Rick Barnes gestures during the first half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Texas on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
 
 
  photo  Houston guard Marcus Sasser (0) drives to the basket as Cincinnati forward Viktor Lakhin defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)
 
 
  photo  Alabama guard Jaden Bradley (0) drives the ball past Oklahoma guard Bijan Cortes (14) after Alabama forward Noah Clowney (15) set a pick during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, in Norman, Okla. (AP Photo/Garett Fisbeck)
 
 
  photo  Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis smiles as he receives hand slaps while walking to the bench after drawing a foul against Washington during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
 
 
  photo  Virginia's Armaan Franklin (4) drives with the ball against Boston College during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Mike Kropf)
 
 
  photo  Kansas State forward Keyontae Johnson dunks the ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Florida Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, in Manhattan, Kan. Kansas State won 64-50. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
 
 
  photo  Kansas' Jalen Wilson (10) drives against Kentucky's Jacob Toppin during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. Kansas won 77-68. (AP Photo/James Crisp)
 
 

Upcoming Events