WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue men's basketball opens the season where it hopes to finish it: No.1.

The Boilermakers topped the preseason Associated Press Top 25. They received 35 of a possible 61 No. 1 votes.

No. 2 Houston received 16 first-place votes, with the others going to No. 3 UConn (8) and No. 4 Florida (2).

This is the first time Purdue has been ranked No. 1 in the preseason rankings. It was ranked as high as No. 2 before the 1987-88 season.

Purdue was ranked No. 1 at some point in each season between 2021-22 and 2023-24.

The Boilermakers return Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith , also the Bob Cousy Award winner as the nation's top point guard. It also returns All-Big Ten big man Trey Kaufman-Renn and four-year starting shooting guard Fletcher Loyer .

Matt Painte

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