Purdue earned the No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll for the first time in program history, the AP announced Monday. The Boilermakers received 35 of 61 first-place votes to begin the 2025-26 season ahead of Houston at No. 2 and reigning champion Florida at No. 3.

Matt Painter's squad enters its 21st season under the head coach seeking the program's first NCAA title. Purdue previously started a season ranked as high as No. 2 once before in 1987-88 under Gene Keady.

"We are obviously excited to get the season going and being ranked No. 1 in the preseason is a great indicator of what we feel this team can accomplish," Painter said. "But the goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the year. We're thrilled that people think this highly of our team, but there is a long ways to go and a lot of work to do to reach that goal in April."

The Boilermakers return first-team AP All-American point guard Braden Smith and leading scorer Trey Kaufman-Renn, who averaged 20.1 points per game last season. Veteran guard Fletcher Loyer also returns to the roster.

Purdue reached last season's Sweet 16 before falling to Houston on a last-second basket. The program had never been ranked No. 1 in any AP poll before the 2021-22 season but has reached the top spot in three of the past four years.

Houston earned 16 first-place votes to match the program's best preseason AP ranking after last season's run to the national title game. Florida received eight first-place votes in its highest preseason ranking since entering as reigning champions in 2006-07.

UConn claimed the No. 4 spot with two first-place votes. St. John's rounded out the top five at No. 5, surpassing the program's previous best preseason ranking of No. 7 in 1984-85.

The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 each placed six teams in the poll. Duke checked in at No. 6, followed by Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and Texas Tech to complete the top 10.

Kansas entered at No. 19, marking the Jayhawks' lowest preseason ranking since starting at No. 24 in 2008-09. Louisville debuted at No. 11 in Pat Kelsey's second season after winning 27 games in his first year.